Yeah I'd love to have heard that one. Hmmm mp3s of Terry Gross interviews? Could Google know Everything? Remember ~ dates or anything of the trumpeter's name? Couldn't have been Roger Voisin, could it (he'd be pretty long in the tooth and was NY Phil IIRC) Armando Ghitalla?

There aren't enough good trumpet stories out there! but I can imagine the conductor giving a difficult passage from say, Haydn concerto (or doing a cadenza over & over). Gerard Schwartz could have done that, or Marsalis or the fantastical young Russian guy, Sergei Nakariakov (who has a couple CDs out now). Hard to imagine how these guys can do what they do. Pure magic, to those of us who have tried..

Conductor sounds like the Ormandy in Adler's story (and yes - almost surely it was he in your concert). Don't think he had a peer. Lucky you - I never heard him live.

Ormandy skit:

O. clearly didn't want to do this gig; maybe did not consider it a Worthy instrument (!?) Gave Adler only 10 minutes notice (usually lots more) for initial rehearsal warmup and such -- then objected when he blew an A for tuning. O. asks, "what's this?" A. replies "I cannnot alter the pitch of this instrument". A few other nasties and finally A. says baldfaced to Ormandy (I wrote this down)

Mr. Ormandy, if it embarrasses you to conduct this - I rehearsed it with the orchestra last year - I think we can do it without you..

Cackle.. cackle.. Loved It - great conductor AND pompous ass sometimes.


Cheers,

Ashton

Wow! 53 YEARS as Principal - must have been ~17 when appointed, still as conservatory student. Yes, it would 'show' quite early on. Got my first horn at ~10.

(Real loss to all, IMO re the lack of funding, time for most school kids to be introduced to some.. instrument early-on. As in: hmm, shall I go slash some tires with the gang? or try that Arban variation again..?)

Regret my ignorance of Mr. H. Time to look for some recordings..


Cheers,

A.