SFS principal oboist suffers stroke on stage

[Oscar]

What a horrible tragedy.

From San Francisco Chronicle http://tiny.cc/krq1sw

<< SF oboist stricken during symphony concert
By Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
Sunday, February 24, 2013, updated 3:09 pm

William Bennett, the San Francisco Symphony's principal oboist,
suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday night, midway through a
performance of Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto. He collapsed on the
stage of Davies Symphony Hall and lay unconscious for 20 minutes,
according to witnesses, until paramedics arrived and took him out.

Symphony spokesman Oliver Theil said that Bennett was taken to a local
hospital for treatment, and described his condition as "guarded."

One patron who was in attendance said that Bennett began to sway
unsteadily during his performance, then lost his balance and fell to
the stage. As he fell, he held his oboe aloft long enough for one of
the orchestra's violinists to take it from him.

Bennett, 56, was diagnosed with tonsil cancer in 2004, and was on
leave for nine months undergoing radiation and chemotherapy
treatments. He got a clean bill of health and was performing with the
Symphony again the following summer.>>

[Mike Painter]

On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:30:52 -0800, Oscar wrote
(in article
<b5fa14df-c957-40d3...@q9g2000pbf.googlegroups.com>):

> What a horrible tragedy.
>
> From San Francisco Chronicle http://tiny.cc/krq1sw
>
> << SF oboist stricken during symphony concert
> By Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
> Sunday, February 24, 2013, updated 3:09 pm
>
> William Bennett, the San Francisco Symphony's principal oboist,
> suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday night, midway through a
> performance of Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto. He collapsed on the
> stage of Davies Symphony Hall and lay unconscious for 20 minutes,
> according to witnesses, until paramedics arrived and took him out.

I heard him play Friday night, and he was excellent. (He's always excellent!)
Jan Pascal Tortelier was conducting.

The online comments to Comical's article from people who were there indicate
that there were doctors from the audience on stage immediately and that it
was not 20 minutes before the paramedics arrived. So whoever told Kosman that
maybe "felt like it took 20 minutes."

I hope.

Mike

[Mort]

Hi,

San Francisco must be bad luck for musicians. Tatiana Nikolayeva
suffered a burst cerebral aneurysm while playing there, and died in a
hospital a few days later. She was playing Shostakovich's Preludes and
Fugues. About 2 weeks earlier, I had seen her play that piece in New
York City, plus a charming interview right after the performance.

Leonard Warren suffered a stroke and died on stage at the Metropolitan
Opera House just after singing an aria about death. Eerie.
Regards,

Mort Linder

[Lawrence Chalmers]

What are the chances of recovery from a stroke like that? I hope he
recovers and plays again. He's an engaging fellow with a couple (?)
kids. I saw him
at a concert at the SF Conservatory, but I don't remember the works
being played. MTT was there as well as the harpist Doug Riorth whom I
met many years ago.

I wish him and his family well.

[Mike Painter]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:15:41 -0800, Lawrence Chalmers wrote
(in article <26142-51...@storefull-3172.bay.webtv.net>):

I think it depends on where in the brain and how serious the bleeding was.
There's been no further news here

Mike

[Herman]

Le lundi 25 février 2013 06:30:52 UTC+1, Oscar a écrit :


>
> One patron who was in attendance said that Bennett began to sway
>
> unsteadily during his performance, then lost his balance and fell to
>
> the stage. As he fell, he held his oboe aloft long enough for one of
>
> the orchestra's violinists to take it from him.
>
>

what a terrible thing to happen, right on stage.

[Mort]

Lawrence Chalmers wrote:
> What are the chances of recovery from a stroke like that? I hope he
> recovers and plays again.

Hi,

Each person has a different result of a stroke, and recovery is
unpredictable. If a clot is the cause and can be located very quickly,
then so-called clotbusting drugs can sometimes prevent further damage.
However, some strokes are caused by bleeding. The location of the brain
damage is also critical.

Let us hope that he is able to make a full recovery.

Mort Linder

[J.Martin]

On Feb 24, 9:30 pm, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> What a horrible tragedy.
>

> From San Francisco Chroniclehttp://tiny.cc/krq1sw

Just awful, awful news. I feel so bad for him, having just gone
through chemo and now this. He's a wonderful player, and it will be a
devastating loss for the orchestra if he can't continue. Let us pray
for a full recovery.

[Mike Painter]

On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:43:22 -0800, Mike Painter wrote
(in article <0001HW.CD5039FA...@news.giganews.com>):

The article had been "updated" (read: corrected) to say that the paramedics
arrived within minutes.

The last reader comment indicates that Bill was still in a coma today.

Mike

[patterbear]

On Feb 25, 6:27 pm, Mike Painter

<mikhail.NOSPAM.pain...@sbcglobal.NOSPAM.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:43:22 -0800, Mike Painter wrote

> (in article <0001HW.CD5039FA002FB0DDF0184...@news.giganews.com>):

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:30:52 -0800, Oscar wrote
> > (in article

> > <b5fa14df-c957-40d3-9e20-4a7164783...@q9g2000pbf.googlegroups.com>):
>
> >> What a horrible tragedy.
>
> >> From San Francisco Chroniclehttp://tiny.cc/krq1sw

>
> >> << SF oboist stricken during symphony concert
> >> By Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
> >> Sunday, February 24, 2013, updated 3:09 pm
>
> >> William Bennett, the San Francisco Symphony's principal oboist,
> >> suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday night, midway through a
> >> performance of Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto. He collapsed on the
> >> stage of Davies Symphony Hall and lay unconscious for 20 minutes,
> >> according to witnesses, until paramedics arrived and took him out.
>
> > I heard him play Friday night, and he was excellent. (He's always excellent!)
> > Jan Pascal Tortelier was conducting.
>
> > The online comments to Comical's article from people who were there indicate
> > that there were doctors from the audience on stage immediately and that it
> > was not 20 minutes before the paramedics arrived. So whoever told Kosman that
> > maybe "felt like it took 20 minutes."
>
> The article had been "updated" (read: corrected) to say that the paramedics
> arrived within minutes.
>
> The last reader comment indicates that Bill was still in a coma today.
>
> Mike

Mr. Bennett passed today. He was a wonderful artist and generous
loving person. He will be greatly missed. A wonderful legacy of
recordings remains to remind of his artistry.

[td]

Sad news.

John de Lancie, who commissioned that concerto from Strauss at the end of WW II always did say that concerto was a killer of a piece. He made his own arrangement of the concerto so as to give the oboist some breathing space. I wonder which version WB was performing!

TD

[M forever]

De Lancie didn't commission the piece from Strauss. He merely asked
him if he had ever thought about writing an oboe concerto, and Strauss
said "no". But apparently that started him thinking about it, and a
little while later he began to work on it. It was premiered by Marcel
Salliet and the Tonhalle Orchester. De Lancie didn't play the piece
until much later because after the war, he switched to the
Philadelphia Orchestra as second oboe so he didn't see himself in a
position to give the US premiere as that would apparently have been
seen as disrespectful towards his principal oboe and teacher,
Tabuteau. So the US premiere was played by Mitch "sing along" Miller
of the NBC Orchestra.

[arri bachrach]

Simon Barere (sp?) died on the stage in Carnegie Hall after playing
just a few minutes of the Grieg concerto.
The bass Leonard Warren died on the stage of the Met while singing.

AB

[Oscar]

On Feb 28, 3:07 pm, M forever wrote:
>
> De Lancie didn't commission the piece from Strauss. He merely asked
> him if he had ever thought about writing an oboe concerto, and Strauss
> said "no".

De Lancie and Strauss met in Garmisch http://tiny.cc/oio8sw The
inscription was 'inspired by an American soldier (oboist from Chicago)
[sic]'.

> But apparently that started him thinking about it, and a
> little while later he began to work on it. It was premiered by Marcel
> Salliet and the Tonhalle Orchester. De Lancie didn't play the piece

> until much later because after the war...

Only took him 40 years to lay down a recording, too, in 1987, ten
years after retiring from The Curtis Institute http://tiny.cc/wko8sw
(reissued by Boston Records in 2002). Max Wilcox conducted an
anonymous chamber orchestra; John Pfieffer produced.

[jrsnfld]

A wonderful artist, indeed, and I am deeply saddened. The obit in the
Chronicle (www.sfgate.com) is exactly right: every time he took the
spotlight, no matter how brief, you felt anticipation. His playing was
tasteful, expressive, refined, but always found a fresh angle that
seemed right for the moment. From his distinctive sound--thoroughly in
the American tradition, but with extra bubbles of affection mixed in--
and inventive musicality one felt intelligence, effervescence, often
wit, yet unfailingly grace--a distinctive force that drew one into the
music ever deeper and defined its character for listener.

He will be impossible to replace--the next person in his chair will
reset how that ensemble projects its collective personality.

--Jeff

[Sol L. Siegel]

arri bachrach <abach...@gmail.com> wrote in news:582ad930-9d4d-4f54-9aa6-
0f29b5...@k8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com:

> Simon Barere (sp?) died on the stage in Carnegie Hall after playing
> just a few minutes of the Grieg concerto.
>

According to some versions, he collapsed while trying to play the
downward arpeggio at the very beginning, and passed backstage shortly
afterward. It was his first time essaying the Grieg, and his first
appearance with Eugene Ormandy. Supposedly, before going onstage,
he actually said, "Mr. Ormandy, this is the first time that we are
playing together. I hope it won�t be the last."

- Sol L. Siegel, Philadelphia, PA USA

[Al Eisner]

I concur with the above. Although not as attuned to the subtleties
of oboe playing as is Jeff, I certainly had a similar response to his
playing. I heard him not only as part of the Symphony, but (easier for
me to single out his qualities) in a number of chamber performances
at Music@Menlo (where he was a participant for several seasons).

The full link to the obit, by the way, is
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Bennett-S-F-Symphony-oboist-dies-at-56-4317151.php
He was only 56 years old. A great and quite shocking loss.
--

Al Eisner

[td]

On Feb 28, 6:24 pm, Oscar <oscaredwardwilliam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 28, 3:07 pm, M forever wrote:
>
>
>
> > De Lancie didn't commission the piece from Strauss. He merely asked
> > him if he had ever thought about writing an oboe concerto, and Strauss
> > said "no".
>
> De Lancie and Strauss met in Garmischhttp://tiny.cc/oio8swThe
> inscription was 'inspired by an American soldier (oboist from Chicago)
> [sic]'.
>
> > But apparently that started him thinking about it, and a
> > little while later he began to work on it. It was premiered by Marcel
> > Salliet and the Tonhalle Orchester. De Lancie didn't play the piece
> > until much later because after the war...
>
> Only took him 40 years to lay down a recording, too, in 1987, ten

> years after retiring from The Curtis Institutehttp://tiny.cc/wko8sw

> (reissued by Boston Records in 2002). Max Wilcox conducted an
> anonymous chamber orchestra; John Pfieffer produced.

Your recording date is incorrect.

It was released on LP in the 1970s. I have that original LP.

TD

[td]

On Feb 28, 6:07 pm, M forever <ms1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 28, 2:42 pm, td <tomdedea...@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > Sad news.
>
> > John de Lancie, who commissioned that concerto from Strauss at the end of WW II always did say that concerto was a killer of a piece. He made his own arrangement of the concerto so as to give the oboist some breathing space. I wonder which version WB was performing!
>
> > TD
>
> De Lancie didn't commission the piece from Strauss. He merely asked
> him if he had ever thought about writing an oboe concerto, and Strauss
> said "no". But apparently that started him thinking about it, and a
> little while later he began to work on it.

This is not the story told to me personally by John De Lancie.
According to JdL, he asked Strauss to write the piece.

TD

[arri bachrach]

asking to write a piece might be different from 'commisssioning" a
piece of music....

AB..

[jrsnfld]

For the next couple weeks you can hear Bennett's last performances, of
the Strauss Oboe Concerto, thanks to streaming on demand from KDFC:

http://www.kdfc.com/pages/12626407.php

The opening, in particular, is a vivid testament of his individuality
and penetrating insight into the music. Those of us who have struggled
over this passage in private are humbled by such natural, expressive
intelligence.

I'm well aware of performances by other great oboists that are
exquisite in their own way, but I don't know any others quite like
this: it's classic Bill Bennett. He is missed.

--Jeff

[Alan Cooper]

jrsnfld <jrs...@aol.com> wrote in
news:97dfbf68-29ad-42b2...@y4g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:

Thanks for the pointer, Jeff. Listening to the first movement now. A
deliberate tempo, sometimes daringly so (maybe a bit too free with the
rubato). Many subtleties of phrasing that I've not heard before (and I
know just about every recording of the piece, as I'm sure you do). What
a pleasure to hear that gorgeous sound and impeccable technique, a
pleasure tempered by the thought we won't hear it again except in
recordings. RIP.

AC

[jrsnfld]

On Mar 7, 3:05 pm, Alan Cooper <amcoope...@SPAMoptonline.net> wrote:

While technically not the easiest passage to play for the fingers,
it's even more daring to play it slow than fast, because of the
difficulty of maintaining the lyrical line and--most importantly--
breath control. Of course, you get a little more room to breathe if
you know what you're doing. And you get more room to add character.
Both Bennett and the orchestra (kudos to Tortelier as well?) take full
advantage of the possibilities. I like the rubato, but it's not for
everyone. I love the way it's slower and somewhat freer, but feels
like it has a snap and a spring in its step, and doesn't (to me) seem
slow at all.

--Jeff

[Mike Painter]

On Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:40:15 -0800, jrsnfld wrote
(in article
<a02e7b5a-7085-4775...@hd10g2000pbc.googlegroups.com>):

I was away from Usenet the past week, but I was very sorry to receive the
email last Thursday from the SFS that Bill had passed away. He's been with
the Symphony ever since I started attending in 1983. I didn't know him
personally, but as a regular audience member, get get to know who's who in
the orchestra and feel some sort of connection to them (some more than
others). Bill's playing was always outstanding and heartfelt, regardless of
what part it was, soloist in a concerto, orchestral soloist, or as part of
the ensemble.

I'm truly sorry at this news, and many people here in the Bay Area are, too.
I feel very fortunate to have heard him play the night before.


Mike

[Al Eisner]

Thanks very much for the link (I just listened to it). It's really quite
beautiful (as well as wonderfully controlled playing). The second movement
is at least as haunting (and, unfortunately, haunted) as the first.

I wonder if this will find its way to CD, although I doubt it was given
the treatment of a serious SFS recording. I had never heard him in an
extensive solo part with the orchestra (which the Strauss most certainly
is), only as a featured soloist in brief passages. The one memorable solo
encounter I recall was in Bach's "Ich Habe Genug", which appears on a
Music@Menlo CD, but of course he's featured in only a fraction of the CD.

I looked on Amazon, and didn't find much in the way of recordings with
him as soloist. (It's a bit tricky to search, since there is also
the flute player William Bennett, and often an oboe is featured on the
same recordings.) There's Harbison's Oboe Concerto with SFS/Blomstedt,
but not much else I can be sure of.

Poking around on the web, I did find two CD's issued by Forrests Music
in Berkeley (a company with which I suspect Jeff is intimately familiar,
although it was new to me). One is a two-disc set of arrangements
(mostly) of Beethoven chamber works for oboe; the other is a wide-
ranging recital. They can be found by entering "William Bennett" in the
search box at http://www.forrestsmusic.com/oboe_recordings_page1.htm.

There are also a few things on youtube, including an arrangement of
Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean", posted the day after Bennett's passing,
and a Tchaikovsky excerpt taken from the SFS "Keeping Score" videos.
--

Al Eisner

[Steve Emerson]

In article
<alpine.LRH.2.00.1...@iris03.slac.stanford.edu>,

Al Eisner <eis...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:

> Poking around on the web, I did find two CD's issued by Forrests Music
> in Berkeley (a company with which I suspect Jeff is intimately familiar,
> although it was new to me).

I suspect he is. It's an instrument store specializing in reeds.

SE.

[Al Eisner]

Yes, hence my remark. :)

I suspect, by the way, that what they issue is CDR's, not that that's
necessarily a problem.
--

Al Eisner

[jrsnfld]

On Mar 8, 2:00 pm, Al Eisner <eis...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, 7 Mar 2013, Steve Emerson wrote:
> > In article

> > <alpine.LRH.2.00.1303071655440.4...@iris03.slac.stanford.edu>,

> > Al Eisner <eis...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> >> Poking around on the web, I did find two CD's issued by Forrests Music
> >> in Berkeley (a company with which I suspect Jeff is intimately familiar,
> >> although it was new to me).
>
> > I suspect he is. It's an instrument store specializing in reeds.
>

Forget about Jeff...More importantly, Mr. Bennett was a regular at
that store.

> I suspect, by the way, that what they issue is CDR's, not that that's
> necessarily a problem.

I don't see any signs that the Beethoven issue is on CDRs instead of
regular CDs (although I can't find my copy of the disc with the
Nielsen sonata on it...must put stuff in its proper place right away
or it gets lost in the piles!)

--Jeff

[John Wiser]

"jrsnfld" <jrs...@aol.com> wrote :

> I don't see any signs that the Beethoven issue is on CDRs instead of
> regular CDs (although I can't find my copy of the disc with the
> Nielsen sonata on it...must put stuff in its proper place right away
> or it gets lost in the piles!)

The older one grows, the more one is troubled by piles.
Here's a link for those who are interested.
http://www.forrestsmusic.com/oboe_recordings_page1.htm

jdw

[Lawrence Chalmers]

Both volumes are available @ 15.00 per. Packaged in a printed cardboard
sleeve. I saw them at the SFS store. But this doesn't answer the
question about cdr vs the other.

[Al Eisner]

It wasn't really a question, just a suspicion I had that given the large
number of offerings by various oboists, that these might be issues by
Forrests itself rather than by CD manufacturers. It's entirely
possible that my guess was incorrect. If these issues are suitable
remembrances of William Bennett, CDF-vs-CD isn't important.

The recital disk at Forrests is titled "What Might Have Been?" -- sadly
prescient? I don't find either of the two issues at the online SFS store
(although they do list the Music@Menlo CD containing "Ich Habe Genug",
which I previously mentioned).
--

Al Eisner

[mary...@mytusd.org]

how do you get a picture on? Not like a picture of you but from Google images.

Email me
mary...@mytusd.org

[John Wiser]

"Al Eisner" <eis...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:alpine.LRH.2.00.1...@iris03.slac.stanford.edu...

http://www.forrestsmusic.com/oboe_recordings_page1.htm

Tenth and eleventh items on this page.

JDW

[Al Eisner]

Yes, I posted the Forrests link when I first mentioned the existence of those
CDs. The immediate subject was availability (at lower price) through SFS.
--

Al Eisner

[John Wiser]

"Al Eisner" <eis...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote in message

news:alpine.LRH.2.00.1...@iris01.slac.stanford.edu...

Missed that point, sorry!. I'm not the world's greatest comparison shopper.

JDW

[jrsnfld]

By the way, looking more closely at the CDs and the packaging, it
seems they were produced by "Disc Makers", a company that specializes
in limited run CD-R and "CD replication". The discs don't look like CD-
Rs to me, though the labels seem like a sort of paper layer attached
to one side. Perhaps that means they're made by the "replication"
method. But I wouldn't really know.

--Jeff

[Steve de Mena]

Are CD-R and "CD replication" synonymous?

For a long time there have been CD-R blanks that have no special
coloring or look to them different than CDs. I usually look for the
tiny "IFPI" number as an indication it is a CD.

Steve

[jrsnfld]

You tell me. Here's the blather on the web site:

"CD Duplication is an affordable option for customers looking to make
a small run of discs (even as few as one). A recordable disc (CD-R,
DVD-R or BD-R) is “burned” with your content directly onto our top-
quality blank media. One possible drawback is infrequently reported
problems of burned discs being incompatible with older car CD players.
For disc quantities of 1-300, we recommend disc duplication.

CD Replication includes the creation of a glass master from a client's
original master, a nickel stamper created from that glass master, and
the injection molding of clear optical-grade polycarbonate substrates
(clear discs) from the nickel stamper. The process also involves the
metallizing and lacquering of those polycarbonate substrates to
produce a perfect copy - an exact replication of your CD or DVD disc.
CD replication is quick and cost-effective, especially for larger
quantities. For disc quantities over 500, we recommend CD
replication."

>
> For a long time there have been CD-R blanks that have no special
> coloring or look to them different than CDs. I usually look for the
> tiny "IFPI" number as an indication it is a CD.

Thanks! There's some other codes on there, but I see no IFPI number.
So that means it's a colorless CD-R?

--Jeff

[Steve de Mena]

On 3/14/13 12:18 AM, Oscar wrote:
> P.S. In parting, Mr. Martin, I have a simple question. As you are
> someone who, with consistency, has gone out of his way to address,
> embroil, and edify the White Male Bigots on this forum AND as one who
> appreciates the finer points of multicultural sensitivity and
> diversity in 21st Centuy America, I am TOTALLY baffled as to how you
> interact with those whom you consider mentally ill, i.e. 'nutcases',
> 'crazy', etc. I mean, isn't it _not_ cool these days to refer to
> something uncool as 'gay'? And isn't it worthwhile to stamp out any
> reference to 'retarded' this-or-that that young people have a tendency
> to assign people/places/things?
>
> So...what's up with the 'nutcase' insults?
>
> And this?
>
> On Sep 16 2011, 9:03 am, J.Martin wrote:
>>
>> Whatever. You have announced you were leaving the group at least
>> three times before, and unfortunately you never left. We've all come
>> to accept it that, except for those blissful periods where the men in
>> the white coats are successful in getting you to take your
>> medications, we are stuck with you. Which is fine, really: you're
>> good for a laugh most of the time.
>
> Not very sensitive for a white male anti-bigot higher educator.
> Abhorrent, actually.
>
> I can't say I've done a lot of charity work over the last few years,
> but this is one cause that is true to _my_ spirit and which I have
> been a part of several times over the last years. The Greater Los
> Angeles Homeless Count: http://www.theycountwillyou.org
>
> You won't be thinking 'that' way _ever_ again!
>

I certainly hope you do not leave this newsgroup. You listen to, and
report on, a larger number of new CD purchases than I think most
people in this newsgroup, of a wider variety of music styles, with
what I find to be valuable insights.

That's great, the volunteer work you do.

Steve

[Steve de Mena]

Yes, that sounds like the "CD Replication" goes through the normal
process of creating "real" CDs, and "CD Duplication" is basically what
you or I could do at home, but they probably have a tower of some 4-10
CD/DVD burners to burn more copies simultaneously - faster than the
one at a time we could do. Some of these devices let you place a
stack of blanks and walk away and it swaps the blanks out as it burns
each one, sort of like filling a paper tray with 50 sheets of paper
and making 50 copies.

>>
>> For a long time there have been CD-R blanks that have no special
>> coloring or look to them different than CDs. I usually look for the
>> tiny "IFPI" number as an indication it is a CD.
>
> Thanks! There's some other codes on there, but I see no IFPI number.
> So that means it's a colorless CD-R?
>
> --Jeff
>

Yes Jeff, I would think so.

I used to use some DOS command line utilities from Plextor (or others)
that would actually identify the blank manufacturer, but have long
misplaced those. It would show "TY" [Taiyo-Yuden] or "CDC", or names
like that (not "Maxell" or whatever company sold the CDs but typically
did not actually manufacture the blanks).

Steve