On this past February 7th, the Philadelphia Orchestra held auditions for two bassoon positions, assistant principal and second. The assistant position will start September 1982, while the second commences September 1983. It was decided that both openings would be filled on this one audition date due to the likelihood of many fine players applying.
The audition procedure was recently written into the orchestra members' master contract and included several departures from the previous method of selecting new players. The following is an excerpt from the labor contract that covers woodwind replacements:
1. In order to fill vacancies with the best possible players, certain procedures will be followed, and an Audition Committee will be created to consult with the Music Director, who shall have the final authority in all events for the selection of such players.
2. The Audition Committee will consist of the Associate Conductor, the Concert master and:
b. Brass and Woodwind Openings: all principals of the choir involved, one other member of the section involved. (This was a minimum requirement. In the bassoon audition two other members of the bassoon section were on the Committee, plus the principal bassoon, clarinet, oboe and flute).
3. The procedure shall be as follows:a. Openings will be advertised in an issue of the International Musician, unless there is insufficient time to do so.
b. The principal of the section involved, the Personnel Manager and the member of the Audition Committee as determined by that Committee will screen resumes to determine players who will be invited to audition. (Of 105 applicants, 55 were invited).
c. The Audition Committee will decide by majority vote which players who audition in the preliminaries will be passed to the finals.
d. The Audition Committee and the Music Director will be present at the finals. In addition to players passed to the finals pursuant to paragraph 3c hereof, the Music Director may, after consultation with the Audition Committee, add at the finals any players designated by him, regardless of whether such players have competed in the preliminaries.
e. The Music Director will consult with the Audition Committee with respect to players in the finals, and the Music Director shall give appropriate weight to the recommendations of the Audition Committee, it being understood, however, that the Music Director shall have final say on the players accepted.
f. No player shall be engaged who has not been auditioned in the finals, except with respect to principal players, where, after consultation with the Audition Committee, the Music Director and management determine in their best judgment that auditioning would not be in the best interest of the Orchestra Association."
(The phrases in parenthesis in the above contract excerpt were by the author for this report.)
I was asked to draw up the music for the audition. First and most important was to find a player with an attractive sound which would blend with the woodwind ensemble, whose tuning was exceptional, whose technique was faultless, and who had interpretive imagination. For the first piece, I decided upon the Weber concerto, slow movement. Here, in the first few phrases, one could evaluate beauty of tone and accuracy of intonation Many auditioners displayed their weaknesses at this point. There were flat middle Cs, sharp high Gs, rhythm that shortened note and rest values, unsmooth G-Ab trills, and stiff nonelegant expression. In most cases the Weber told the whole story, but with players coming great distances more material was heard. The Farago variations demand sheer finger dexterity, but even here the player has a chance to show some imagination. In the Tchaikowsky 6th, the opening phrase reveals fine control of the pianissimo attack, and musical concept of this anguished introduction. The Beethoven 4th is just plain double tonguing, with a clear grace note . . . not muddled.
There were many excellent players, but the Committee decided upon six who were outstanding. One finalist couldn't remain for the evening contest because of a recording commitment which couldn't be adjusted. All five finalists played the entire audition book except the final Zarathustra solo. After discussion with the Committee, Maestro Muti selected two players.
In summary, the audition material was: Weber slow movement, Paganini-Farago Variations 2, 5, 7, Rite of Spring, Bolero, Ravel G major concerto, Beethoven's fourth, Tchaikowsky fourth and six, Firebird, Zarathustra and an F major scale three octaves.
(The winners of this audition were Mark Gigliotti from the Hague Orchestra for assistant principal bassoon and Richard Ranti, a nineteen year old Curtis student for second bassoon. For the benefit of those who do not know the work, the Paganini-Farago Variations mentioned in the article are printed below for your information. Ed.) (The Variations are not included in WWW edition - WWW Ed.)