29 Oct 2024
Ahead of his performance in Beautiful world, where are you: Schubert Octet & Songs this month, meet Philip Turbett: bassoonist in the English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and MCO's Orchestra Fixer.
How and when did you become involved with the MCO?
My first engagement was a recording session with EBS in 1988. It was in Rosslyn Hill Chapel in Hampstead and I think we were recording music by Couperin! I became orchestra manager (a.k.a. fixer) in May 2012, booking players for the MCO's projects.
What do you think sets the EBS and ORR apart from other groups you work with?
The feeling of working on a project at MCO is very different from the normal process of just getting ready for a concert. For these projects it’s a voyage of discovery. Sometimes we’ve had to source and learn new (to us) instruments for particular periods. For example, when we first started performing Berlioz, the bassoons were so different to Mozart or Beethoven’s. The end result may have still been a concert or a recording but the journey and research involved made it feel so different.
What was your first experience of orchestral music?
Like most musicians, I guess, my first experience of orchestral music was with my youth orchestra when I was growing up in Ireland. I think the first orchestral piece I ever played with them was Dvorak’s Symphony No 8 in G major.
How did you find yourself on this career journey, particularly with period instruments?
My musical career journey started when I came over to England to study. It was at this stage that I met my future wife and she was a recorder player. We started playing some chamber music together and I quickly realised that the modern bassoon wasn’t the ideal instrument, from a balance perspective, so I started investigating period bassoons. The rest is history!
What is the best thing about being part of the MCO?
I think the best thing about being part of MCO is working with like-minded colleagues.
Tell us about your favourite MCO tour or concert.
That’s hard. There has been so many! I would probably have to say the Mozart Operas that we performed in Europe in the 1990s.
Do you have any pre-concert rituals?
Not really. I like to get to the venue early and get used to the acoustic and space.
Must listens – if you had to recommend one composer, who would it be and why?
Another hard one! It’s always hard to beat Mozart but as a bassoonist I love playing Berlioz.
If you could work with any artist on a performance or project, who would you choose?
If I could turn the clock back I would loved to have worked with Duke Ellington! My other life is as a clarinet and saxophone performer.
Away from music, tell us about your favourite hobbies and why they strike such a chord.
I’m an avid golfer! I love turning my musical, analytical brain to my golf game. Sadly not with the same success as my music but I enjoy the challenge of trying to make myself better!
Finally, what projects did you enjoy last season, and what are you looking forward to this season with MCO?
I loved all 3 of our projects last season – Bach’s B Minor Mass, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and the Beethoven Symphonies. All of those pieces feature fantastic bassoon parts and well as being wonderful music.
Looking forward I’m really looking forward to performing the Schubert Octet with my colleagues in ORR in November.
Philip Turbett plays the bassoon in Beautiful world, where are you: Schubert Octet & Songs, 22 November 2024, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.
