Carl Smith and Paul Vermel An earlier blog entry contains the story of my reclaiming the tape archives of the Portland Symphony resulting in an 85th Anniversary 2 CD set of selections from each of the five permanent Music Directors since the early 1960s. All the restored tapes are now being stored at Transparent Audio on behalf of the Symphony and are available for listening sessions for those who have a special interest in the Symphony's work from 1960 to 2000.
Yesterday [August 31, 2010] I had the pleasure of hosting a two hour "concert" in our sound room for Paul Vermel, who led the orchestra from 1967 to 1974, and his wife Carolyn Paulin, a producer for the WFMT radio network in Chicago. Paul came to the Portland Symphony from Paris where he attended the Paris Conservatoire. He is credited with achieving a major advance in the professionalism and performance quality of the orchestra.
The concert consisted of master tapes from radio broadcasts played on a restored professional tape deck that can be seen in the background of the photo. Paul confessed to having some concern about the quality of the performances before the concert started but he was extremely pleased to discover that the orchestra played with great skill and enthusiasm and the audiences gave long and vigorous applause. The selections included a Verdi overture, a Richard Strauss tone poem, and portions of works by Mozart, Wagner, Ibert and Stravinsky. As a conductor Paul made it clear that he would like the volume level to approximate what it would be from his position on the podium and we did not disappoint him. Because the microphones were right above the front of the stage Paul could even hear the sounds of his adjusting the podium, shifting his feet, and occasional coughs from the audience as the orchestra prepared to play. We were transported 40 years back in time.
thank you so much for the lovely blog! We appreciated the concert more than we can say.
ReplyDeletePaul and Carolyn