The Residentie Orkest recently inaugurated a new contrabassoon , to which the Friends of the Residentie Orkest contributed. Erik Reinders, double bassoonist, tells us more about it! 

"While the old 1978 instrument is an excellent instrument, the instrument does have a 'use case.' For someone who is not used to it, it is difficult to play it evenly and cleanly. I have been playing this contrabassoon since I was hired in 1987, so I have become completely accustomed to it. Therefore, to make the instrument sound the way I want, I have a whole arsenal of auxiliary grips and tricks. I have always played on it with great satisfaction until now." 

New model
However, the development of instruments does not stand still. When Erik was with Maxi Vera at the Amsterdam Bassoon Centre for a repair on his "regular" bassoon, he was allowed to try a brand new Fox contrabassoon . "Maxi told me that the builders at Fox had developed a new model contrabassoon , with some drastic improvements over older instruments. The instrument played incredibly fine and it had a beautiful sound. There was a better ability to color the sound and "direct" the timbre, and no more auxiliary grips were needed for purity and evenness. This would now be a great instrument for the orchestra, for me and for the person who will succeed me one day. When it became apparent that it was possible to generate funds to purchase a new contrabassoon, with the help of the Friends of the Residentie Orkest , we decided to order a Fox contrabassoon for the bassoon group. The delivery time did amount to a year, as the instrument was newly built. That year of waiting was absolutely rewarded: the new instrument exceeded all my expectations. The colleagues in the orchestra are also very enthusiastic. The carrying capacity of the sound appears to be very good, and the sound blends very easily with the sound of the woodwinds. It is also a pleasure to play on the new contrabassoon in chamber music and solo repertoire."

What happens to the old contrabassoon?
"As I told you, the old contrabassoon is certainly not a bad instrument yet. Some composers prescribe two double bassoons in their scoring, for example Stravinsky in his ballets The Firebird and Le Sacre du Printemps. So when it happens that two double bassoons are needed, we have them available. It is also nice for me to always have an instrument in the house for finishing the reeds and for studying. And if the new contrabassoon needs servicing, we don't have to wait until the summer vacation, or that there is a period in the season where there are no pieces programmed with contrabassoon ."

What programs in the upcoming season are you looking forward to?
There are a lot of programs to look forward to in the coming season where the contrabassoon will be well heard. I'm thinking of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, Stravinsky's Petrushka, Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto and Fifth Symphony, Mahler's Second Symphony, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Alban Berg's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. And perhaps in Kaija Saariho's opera, which we will play with De Nederlandse Opera in October, there is a beautiful double bassoon part."