Derek Reaban

My first New York City experience (last Thursday) began with a trip to the Metropolitan Opera House for a trumpet lesson with David Krauss. It was fascinating waiting inside the stage door by the security desk as parents were dropping off their kids who were performing in the Saturday night performance of Tosca. It was their dress rehearsal. Talk about a lot of interesting personalities!

Unfortunately, I had a very short amount of time to work with David, but we made the most of the time we had together. One of the things that I do with my instructor in Tempe is to swap lines of Rochut trombone etudes so that I can dovetail in and out of his sound and really soak in what I’m hearing. I asked David to read through #13 with me, and I was so pleased that I played my best (a long travel day the day before and some minimal practice mute playing in the hotel didn’t seem to effect me at all).

It was great to hear his sound up close again (the Denver ITG is just a faint echo at this point). He commented that my sound production looked great, and we moved on to other topics. His quickly identified the same thing that I hear from my instructor, and that was to maintain the sound throughout phrases (I tend to taper the end of phrases and it comes across as “letting up” instead of rounding off).

He suggested that we experiment with a different type of breath. I remember this vividly from his talk in Denver, but I hadn’t implemented it as fully as I should to glean all the benefits. While I take a full relaxed breath every time I breathe, he suggested that I need to breathe more slowly, through my nose, and really set up a pressurized feel with some resistance in my chest (please read my notes about his class to get the idea of this concept). He mentioned that he is cautious to offer this advice to students because the last thing that he wants is to introduce the wrong kind of pressure or harmful tension, which could harm sound production. I think that he could tell I would benefit greatly from this subtle variation on what I already do well.

He said, when this is done right, it’s like watching a well made paper airplane fly. What he heard in my sound was more like a paper airplane that is thrown, goes nose down, and then crashes right into the ground (it’s not riding on the air). He said, when you’ve made a good paper airplane, it will go up, take a dip, and then catch itself (floating on the air), and do this several times before it lands. What a great illustration he chose to illustrate this concept to me! Only a Dad with elementary school aged kids would come up with this one!

I took this slow intake (with my chest in a prominent position) and kept breathing in until I really felt pressurized (literally with some resistance in my chest), and then just released the air and played the beginning of the Rochut. WOW! The sound just came out. The connection was right there and my sound had no chance of “letting up”. It was simply riding on top of this more energized, faster air (just like the paper airplane). Literally! When you fill up this much and let go, there is just more pressurized energy behind the sound. It certainly showed in my sound and David seemed to shake his head as if to say, “Yep! This stuff works!”

With a little over 20 minutes for the entire lesson, and wanting to pack in as much as possible, I quickly pulled up the big solo from Don Pasquale. While I have been listening to Italian songs and arias for months in preparation for this lesson, I have never heard a recording of the complete Don Pasquale solo (just several 60 second clips from Amazon.com). I played a very clean version (holding close to what was printed).

When I finished, David said, “That was very nice, but this is Italian music. It needs to be greasier! It needs to be played with Schmaltz!” Then he said, “You know what schmaltz is, right?” I shook my head, thinking to myself that I needed to take more liberties with the music. He said, “No, really. Do you know what schmaltz is?” I just shook my head and said, “I guess I don’t”.

He shared a story about one of the first times that he went out to dinner with his colleagues in the Met. They took him downtown (I think he said Little Italy). He said, “You’ve been to an IHOP restaurant before, right? With all of the bottles of syrup on the table?” Of course (with 3 boys, Funny Face Pancakes are something that we do at least every couple of months)! “Well”, he said, “this restaurant in Little Italy had bottles like that on the table, and when they brought out the meal the waiter took a bottle in each hand, poured it over the food and said, ‘Those are your vitamins’”. Of course, it wasn’t syrup in the bottles.

The “vitamins” were literally called “Schmaltz” or chicken fat! And he said, “If you eat too much of this stuff it will kill you, but it tastes so good you can hardly believe it!”

So, with that, he launched into Don Pasquale with schmaltz! WOW! Talk about greasy and tasty! He took my bland reading of the notes and transformed it into something worth listening to. Sixteenth notes in Italian are short…take your time here…take a breath at the cadenza feel before the fermata. He said, “You’re essentially playing this big trumpet solo by yourself in the middle of the opera, and you have to really tell a story. It has to have schmaltz!”

I finished the lesson with the first two pages of the Marcello vocal solo that I have been modeling after the Cecelia Bartoli recording.

And then our time was up!

We were packing up and talking so that he could make it to his 11 AM rehearsal and when he opened our practice room door, someone had pushed this giant storage crate in front of the door! I’m glad he opened the door. He put he stuff down, pushed the crate out of the way and said, “I hate it when they do that!” He showed me back to the security area and invited me and my Wife back for a backstage tour of the Met after the first intermission of the Saturday show.

I have more stories about meeting Wilmer Wise and Jim Ross, hearing Peter Bond, Guy Piddington, Matthew Muckey, Thomas Smith, John Chudoba, and all of the spectacular shows that my Wife and I saw on our trip. I wanted to really capture this lesson on paper so that I can remember it for a long time, so I started with it first. I’ll post more recollections of my trip soon.

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

cornetguy

Sounds like a great lesson. Thank you for shareing it with us. Now how about the backstage tour.

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Per aspera ad astra

Derek Reaban

An Afternoon with Wilmer

My Wife and I met Wilmer at Charles Colin Music (on 53rd Street) at Noon on Friday. This was the day that we were going to hear the New York Philharmonic and Wilmer suggested that we walk up 8th Avenue to Lincoln Center and find a good place to eat close to the hall. It was a beautiful day (we really lucked out and got great weather – mid 50s during the days) and gave us a chance to see some sights too.

I told Wilmer that we had really enjoyed the performance of Wicked the night before at the Gershwin Theater (what a show!), and he mentioned that he had played Sweeney Todd in that same theater years ago. He said that there had been some issue with the parking garage and not only were there “fumes” that worked there way into the pit, but in the winter, the temperature was close to freezing! He said Angela Lansbury liked it cold in the house, so the musicians had to tolerate the conditions! Yikes!

I also mentioned that after the afternoon performance with the Philharmonic, I was going to get to meet Jim Ross. He said that he hadn’t yet had the change to meet Jim, and then he started talking about some of the other 2nd trumpet players that he had known at the Philharmonic. He had lessons with Nat Prager and said that he was in school with Vincent Penzarella. And then he mentioned that Mario Lanza lived right down the street in his neighborhood. Wow!

We stopped by Rayburn’s Music so that he could pick up some valve oil, and then we continued on to Columbus Circle. He mentioned that Wynton had realized a life long dream in building the Rose Hall and several other smaller performance spaces for jazz as we walked by them. He also commented that the City seemed to change every time he went to different neighborhoods and that it was nothing like he remembered it. I told him about the big changes that are going on in downtown Tempe and said with the creation of Tempe Town Lake the whole complexion of that part of town is so different from when I first moved here in the late 80s that I hardly recognize it. Seems change it happening everywhere.

At lunch (right across from Lincoln Center), we talked about all sorts of things and just enjoyed each other’s company. I told him that we would be seeing A Chorus Line on Saturday night, and he said that the trumpet book was amazing. Well, you were right Wilmer! John Chudoba was just incredible playing the part. And what a show it was!

Wilmer walked us over to Avery Fisher Hall and pointed out the building where Wynton lives. It was quite a memorable afternoon, and would have been perfect if I had remembered to take out my camera for a photo.

Thanks for everything Wilmer! It’s nice to finally meet after being "pen pals" on the computer all these years.

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Derek Reaban

Beethoven at the New York Philharmonic

We arrived at the hall in plenty of time to explore. I loved the photos of all the musicians and past conductors on the second floor. We found our seats in the first balcony and I was amazed at how deep the hall is (I’m guessing it was easily 150-170 feet to where the trumpet section was sitting). Since Beethoven’s King Stephan Overture was up first, Matthew Muckey and Thomas Smith were warming up onstage on their rotaries. There sounds were simply stunning! I enjoyed hearing them line up the octaves before the concert just to be certain. A piece by Ligetti was also on the first half and the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Bartok. Matthew Muckey had a really nice solo in the last movement of the Bartok that I enjoyed very much.

The second half of the concert was Beethoven 5, with Jim Ross on 2nd trumpet. This was easily the best Beethoven 5 that I have ever heard and it was simply amazing to me how evenly matched all of the sections were. Phil Myer’s sound could rise through the entire orchestra at will, and the trumpets sound floated easily to the back of the hall. It was great!

After the program, I met Jim Ross at the stage door and we had a chance to talk as we walked to the subway. I was curious about how his role has changed now that he is sitting 100 yards from his old seat at the Met, and he commented on the different feel of the brass section (locking in on the front end of the beat), new literature each week, and using rotary trumpet much more frequently.

My Wife and I had read in the program that in the 164 years that the Philharmonic has been in existence, they have programmed Beethoven 5 well over 400 times (it was presented on the first concert in 1842 and was known as Grand Symphony in C minor). Jim said that his Mom would be attended the Saturday shown and it was the first time that she had heard the Philharmonic since 1945! And you guessed it; the last time that she heard them they were doing Beethoven 5!

I have some pictures that I will post here when we get them downloaded from our camera.

What a great day! Thanks Jim!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Derek Reaban

Rigoletto at the Met

Attending the Met for the first time, I was amazed at how elegant the lobby area is. From the white marble and red carpets on the floor to the gold hand rails and red velvet on the walls, this place was exactly what it should be: Grand!

Our seats were on the floor on the right side. The 5 balconies were certainly impressive, as was the gold scalloped ceiling, the red velvet seat, the enormous gold curtains on stage, the huge chandelier in the center of the hall, and the 12 smaller chandeliers that were retracted to the ceiling when the lights dimmed.

Rigoletto begins with the solo trumpet and the “curse theme”. David’s playing was simply impeccable. His sound floats into the hall and is captivating and demands attention. Likewise the orchestra sounded fantastic!

When the curtain opened I wasn’t ready for what I saw. The sets are the best that I have ever seen and make you feel like you are in a palace, or later outside the home of Rigoletto on the street. The sky even captured a late evening feel with clouds and just the right lighting.

The banda parts (with Peter Bond and Guy Piddington) were also fantastic. The “at a distance” sound was in sharp contrast to what was just played by the pit. Well done!

And the voices and staging and costumes were simply magnificent. I’ve seen a lot of operas in Santa Fe over the years, and while they are world class, this Rigoletto performance pushed the bar up just a little higher.

Conductor: Friedrich Haider
Gilda: Ekaterina Siurina
Maddalena: Nancy Fabiola Herrera
Duke of Mantua: Joseph Calleja
Rigoletto: Juan Pons
Sparafucile: Paata Burchuladze


After the 1st act, my Wife and I went up to the pit and David directed us to the side hallway so that we could meet him backstage. He gave us the full tour! We worked our way to the pit and got see the setup. This was by far the biggest pit that I have ever seen, and the stage didn’t extend over the pit at all (all the musician could see what was happening on stage). Every one had plenty of room too, and that’s amazing when you consider it’s a complete orchestra (100+).

David showed us the two parts that he had on his stand (the original part and his working part). The original part was an historical who’s who of the principal trumpet players in the Met. A grand tradition began years ago, and the principal player would write their name, the date of the performance, and the name of the singer in the role of Rigoletto. This part dated back to 1899 and had dozens and dozens of entries! A number of the early performances showed that Caruso had played the role of Rigoletto. Mark Gould was the last one to have signed the part. How I would love to have a copy of that sheet for my scrapbook!

It was at this point that I took out my own copy of the 1st trumpet part for Rigoletto that I put on heavy card stock and had David sign it. I’m going to put it on my practice room wall along with the program, tickets, and the picture that my Wife took of the two of us. I have one just like it when we heard the CSO (An Alpine Symphony) in 2000, and have a picture of myself, my instructor, and Mr. Herseth. I smile every time I see it and it certainly brings back fond memories.

We crossed the pit and walked by the “prompter’s” box. This is not the job that you want to have if you are claustrophobic! The prompter must know everyone’s lines in all different languages, and if someone forgets something, they simply glance down to the box and see the prompter mouthing the words to them. It is literally a chair inside a black wooden box with their head just above stage level.

Next we walked behind the pit and below the stage and saw several levels of sets with lots of ropes, pulleys, and steel staircases. We worked our way through lots of passages and corridors with “watch your head” signs everywhere, and went up and down many steel stair cases.

Finally we made it to the orchestra rehearsal room. Guy Piddington was practicing in here when we stepped inside (sounded great!). It’s a huge room with hardwood floors that’s large enough to have full rehearsals when other things are happening out in the main hall. Then we peeked in the next rehearsal hall and saw the singers for a different opera rehearsing with a piano player. This place had something going on in absolutely every space!

We passed by the cafeteria and then out to the main hall where my Wife snapped a picture of David and me. All I can say is, “What a treat!” The rest of the opera was superb and this is an experience that will stay with me forever!

Thanks David!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Derek Reaban

I received a message from David Krauss today and he pointed me to the reference that he had used regarding Enrico Caruso and the significance of the “nose breath”. I’m always interested in reading about the reason behind successful practices in top-flight performers. The book is called The Art of Singing and is surprisingly “on-line” and available for everyone to read.

On Page 54 in Enrico Caruso’s “The Art of Singing” in the section entitled “The Voice and Tone Production” he discusses the points that David Krauss mentioned in his Denver masterclass:

• The tone once launched, one must think how it may be properly sustained, and this is where the art of breathing is most concerned. The lungs, in the first place, should be thoroughly filled. A tone begun with only half filled lungs loses half its authority and is very apt to be false in pitch. To take a full breath properly, the chest must be raised at the same moment the abdomen sinks in. Then with the gradual expulsion of the breath a contrary movement takes place. The diaphragm and elastic tissue surrounding and containing the stomach and vital organs and the muscles surrounding, by practice acquire great strength and assist considerably in this process of respiration and are vital factors in the matter of controlling the supply which supports the tone. The diaphragm is really like a pair of bellows and serves exactly the same purpose. It is this ability to take in an adequate supply of breath and to retain it until required that makes or, by contrary, mars all singing. A singer with a perfect sense of pitch and all the good intentions possible will often sing off the key and bring forth a tone with no vitality to it, distressing to hear, simply for lack of breath control.
  This art of respiration once acquired, the student has gone a considerable step on the road to Parnassus.
  
  To practice deep breathing effectively it is an excellent plan to breathe through the nose, which aids in keeping the confined breath from escaping too soon. The nose also warms and filters the air, making it much more agreeable to the lungs than if taken directly through the mouth. In the practice of slow breathing make sure that the lungs are as nearly emptied as possible on the expulsion of the breath before beginning a new inspiration, as this gives extra impetus to the fresh supply of air and strengthens all the breathing muscles.
  
  If this is not done, moreover, the effect is like two people trying to get in and out of the same narrow door at the same time.

The other author of this “on-line” book is Luisa Tetrazzini (also an opera singer). Her book is similarly entitled “The Art of Singing”.

On Page 12 in the section “Breath Control, The Foundation of Singing” she echoes the ideas that Caruso presents:

• In learning to breathe it is well to think of the lungs as empty sacks, into which the air is dropping like a weight, so that you think first of filling the bottom of your lungs, then the middle part, and so on until no more air can be inhaled.
  
  Inhale short breaths through the nose. This, of course, is only an exercise for breath development. Now begin to inhale from the bottom of the lungs first. Exhale slowly and feel as if you were pushing the air against your chest. If you can get this sensation later when singing it will help you very greatly to get control of the breath and to avoid sending too much breath through the vocal chords.
  
  The breath must be sent out in an even, steady flow.

The chest in a prominent position, the nose breath (keeping the confined breath from escaping too soon – i.e. “pressurizing”), developing the beneficial resistance in the chest to bring forth a tone with “vitality”. Exactly what David has experienced while watching all of the great singers at the Met!

Of course my favorite part of the Tetrazzini book was where she mentioned:

• “From the girls to whom I am talking especially I must now ask a sacrifice—the singer cannot wear tight corsets and should not wear corsets of any kind which come up higher than the lowest rib.”

I always get a kick out of the “fashion” that gets in the way of successful performance practices. While we don’t have to worry about corsets today, I remember an email message (I think on the TPIN list) with the high-school girl that was asking about articulation. She said that she was having real trouble with both clarity and velocity. After lots of good suggestions from different posters, she said that she had a “tongue-stud” and that it was something that she didn’t want to get rid of. That one made my day!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Derek Reaban

My Wife finally got around to downloading some photos from her camera from our New York trip and I thought I’d include them here.

Derek with Jim Ross outside Lincoln Center after the Philharmonic concert:



With my Wife outside the Metropolitan Opera House:



Derek with David Krauss after the backstage tour of the Met:

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

ALLCHOPS

Great day all in all oI would say!

Good for you!

Tony G

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Eclipsehornplayer

All I can say is Wow!

Let's see you got a guided tour of NYC and it's jazz heritage from a serious big time player who we all know and love..... In a word:
Priceless!

I'm sure you're still grinning ear to ear; I know I would be.

This whole tread is great Derek. Well done!

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Alex Yates

Derek, thank you so much for the detailed account of your adventure and the photos. I really enjoyed it. Congrats on such a great time!