French composers
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The Operatic Saxophone Turns 5
If you have had trouble accessing my database, don’t fret. I was using Caspio, a free online database for the past five years. This October, they switched to a paid only version, free to $100 a month. Why? Because now Caspio has AI. I can’t even begin to imagine why AI is useful in databases,…
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Saxophone Mythbusters: Ibert’s Concertino da Camera is NOT Bebop
In the saxophone world, I sometimes hear saxophone professors proclaim ideas that are based on questionable knowledge of the history of saxophone literature and performance practice. After recently hearing from not one professor, but two, that Jacques Ibert’s Concertino da Camera is bebop I feel the need to provide a quick refresher of the relationship…
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Watch the saxophone solos in Léo Delibes ballet, “Sylvia”
In 2019, the Wiener Staatsoper ballet staged Sylvia by Léo Delibes. This classic Romantic styled staging harkens back to the premiere of the ballet at the Palais Garnier in its opening season 1876. The ballet was poorly received when it premiered, but with the strength of its score and new stagings and choreography, the ballet…
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A complete recording of Saint-Saëns’ Henry VIII now available
Odyssey Opera, a company based in Boston, MA, just released the very first complete recording of Saint-Saëns’ Henry VIII. You can find the 4 disc CD here. Henry VIII is a grand opera premiering at the Palais Garnier in 1883. The opera was incredibly popular at the time, with performances at the Royal Opera House…
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The Operatic Saxophone turns one year old—celebrate it by watching opera
Two years ago when everything shut down due to Covid, I started watching the daily streams of the Metropolitan Opera. My interest in opera started before then, but with all the free time and the Met’s high production value, this was the perfect opportunity to dive into the world of opera. Outside of the knowledge…
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Listen to the Saxophone in Ambroise Thomas’s 1889 ballet, La Tempête
In 1889 Paris hosted the Exposition Universelle, a centennial celebration of the French Revolution. This was a showcase of the latest engineering marvels—the Eiffel Tower, technological advances—the telephone, and a showcase of the best of French culture. The Paris Opéra was slated to premiere Saint-Saëns’s newest opera, Ascanio, but the opera was not ready for…
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Opera’s influence on early “turcophone” literature
One of the first saxophone soloists is quite a unique character. Charles-Jean-Baptiste Soualle, aka Ali Ben Sou Alle, was a clarinet student at the Paris Conservatory who graduated in 1844. He took a job playing in orchestras in Paris before going to England with his ‘corno musa,’ aka the turcophone, which was really just an…
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Another Romantic ballet featuring the saxophone: Discover Ambroise Thomas’s La tempête
Recently I went through the Metropolitan Opera’s archives to see if they have any works for saxophone in their performance history that I have yet to find. During this search, I discovered Ambroise Thomas‘s Hamlet was performed for their inaugural season in 1883-84. Did they use the saxophone in the finale of the 2nd act…
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The Voxman Project: Kenneth Tse features theatrical works by Weill and Milhaud
During the darkest days of the pandemic, good art was hard to find. Opera houses, once bustling with activity were empty. Gone were the spectacles of Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. Fortunately, this pause in the usual fare allowed new voices and new musicians to fill the silence. At the University of Iowa, alto saxophonist Kenneth…
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How Charles Koechlin used the saxophone in Cole Porter’s ballet, Within the Quota
Earlier this week, I came across a ballet by Cole Porter, Within the Quota. When I wrote about it, I wasn’t sure whether or not it was orchestrated with a saxophone for it’s premiere in 1923. Since it was programmed with La Création du monde and orchestrated by Charles Koechlin, I had a hunch that…
the Operatic Saxophone 