Word: catelinet
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Dates: during 1954-1954
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...deep bass notes. Then came the cadenza, which was really too intricate for a tuba. The instrument cleared its throat and got going. But soon the movement ended in a romp, with orchestra and tuba neck and neck. The second movement came off beautifully. In a slower, sustained tempo. Catelinet poured out a rich sound, often booming up from the bass into a fruity contralto. Warmed up now, he launched into the difficult final movement with confidence. The tuba lumbered along in its elephantine way and right into another cadenza. This time Catelinet's solo came off well...
...Vaughan Williams' house in Regent's Park, he played for the old (81) composer, who quickly approved. Catelinet practiced till he knew the concerto inside and out, rehearsed only twice with the orchestra (under Sir John Barbirolli) before the big night...
Unhappily, there was a mix-up at the concert: Catelinet's place on the program was changed without his knowledge, and he had to wait in the wings, hugging his tuba, for 20 minutes. By the time they got onstage, both Catelinet and his instrument (which, like all cussed brasses, needs a lot of last-minute tootling to warm it up) had a case of chills. The orchestra broke into the concerto, and the tuba came in disconcertingly off cue. The whole first movement, in fact, sounded as if there were pigeons in the brass, alas...
There were hearty rounds of applause for Tubaman Catelinet, Conductor Barbirolli and Composer Vaughan Williams, who was sitting in the front row. Next day the London Times summed up: "The tone . . . was sufficiently rich and warm to fire any composer's imagination, but [Catelinet] did not suggest that the tuba can do much in the way of varied phrasing or dynamic nuance to repay promotion to a solo status...
...Times may have been right, but none could deny that Phil Catelinet had struck a blow for the tuba...