Musical Adventures in Berlin

Tuesday April 28th 2009:

I slept in a little Tuesday morning, and after eating a tranquil breakfast decided to go with the group who would shop first, then head to the woodwind store. An easy morning seemed ideal. However after about an hour, I had found all the stuff I had forgotten in France and quickly grew tired of the mall scene. Since it was a beautiful day and I could no longer stand to be inside, I exited the seemingly endless building of global commercialism and went across the street to Balzac. I met up with the group after they had gotten their shopping fill and three of us Steph (flute player), Julia (Clarinetist) and I decided to follow Robert’s directions (the oboe student we met at the double reed convention) and try and find this Ludwig Franck and his amazing English Horns.

We took the tram literally to the end of the line, exited, and found the street. The shop was literally a cute house with a sign that read “Ludwig Franck”. We approached and as we tried to decipher which doorbell to ring. The door opened and we were met by a guy in a workman’s apron. I told him we were there to try instruments and he immediately warmed up, saying, “I heard laughing outside so I figured I would just open the door.” He first showed me his oboes, one made of the dark granadilla (a common material for oboes) and the other a light color. He gave me the lighter one first “hot off the press” he told me proudly. It was very lightweight, but had a big sound. I asked about the material of this instrument and he said smiling, “What do you think?” I guessed rosewood or violet wood, but the color seemed too light even for those materials. “Actually” he said, “It’s made out of maple”. I had never heard of an oboe made out of maple, and Ludwig explained to me that he knew a guy in Dresden who patented a water protectant for maple, which made it possible for him to make bassoons out of that material. “So than I thought, why not try it on oboes? And it worked! It is lightweight, but has a big sound!” he said proudly. It did indeed, although it was hard to get a good feel for the color of these instruments, since I was still playing on the European reed that I purchased at the double reed convention. As Steph and I took turns trying the oboes, we continued to chat. He asked us where we were from and how we ended up in his oboe shop on the outskirts of Berlin. We explained that we were American musicians studying abroad in Strasbourg, and came to find his shop after meeting Robert at the convention. “Oh Robert” he said smiling “yes nice person.” He than asked me if I had heard of Peter Smith of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had actually met him randomly at an oboe repair shop in Philadelphia my freshman year of college. He was a quiet, but very nice man and let me try his oboe. I remember liking the dark tone color and butter like fluidity of his instrument. As it turns out, Ludwig Franck was the maker of his oboe, small world.

He than brought out an English horn, and began to soak up a few reeds so that I could try the instrument and add a European English horn reed to my collection. Although I had never played on a European EH reed, his instrument still seemed to live up to its reputation. It sang beautifully, with a velvety chocolate tone that still seemed to have the ability to transcend soloistically over an orchestra. I tested the upper register with the solo from Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” As the beautiful “coming home” melody slowly rose higher and higher, the a flat, b flat and C, which can be difficult and thin on the best of instruments, were as fat as ripe strawberries and seemed to just sore. I was in double reed heaven. Ludwig gave a small smile as he saw my amazement and pleasure. He than said, “These instruments work well with American reeds too, Pedro Diaz (principle English horn of the Metropolitan Opera) liked them so much that he bought three of my English horns. He then decided that he really only needed two, (to rotate, minimize wear and tear, and in case one is in disrepair) so he is selling one. You might be able to buy his English horn, its only 1.5 years old and a used price would be less expensive for you.”

It was incredible to see the craftsmanship in all of these instruments. He said that he is a small shop, and therefore only makes a small amount of instruments each year (under a thousand oboes and English horns combined). He told me that I was the first American oboe student he’d met studying abroad and who had visited his shop! He gave me some information, and after exchanging contact information we happily skipped back to the underground, excitedly talking about our visit the entire way back.

When we returned back to the hostel and had just enough time to change and meet the group in the lobby. We went to a small brasserie in Postdamerplatz, and had our first group dinner of the seminar. It was really fun to be at an authentic German Restaurant and chat with the group and professor Andy and Carrie. I had a wonderful lamb with potatoes and vegetables, and sipped my wine, while enjoying a lovely warm night with good company.

After dinner we went back to the concert hall (where the Berlin Philharmonic and the Suisse Romande played) to see a string quartet. This quartet played a Mozart quartet, a Britten quartet, and ended with a Beethoven quartet. They played beautifully, and each player seemed to be intuitively reading each other’s minds and rising gracefully out of each other’s playing. My favorite was the Britten Quartet, which apparently is hardly ever played. It had a beautiful atmospheric quality and although there were lots of harmonics, the melodic quality was still beautifully maintained.