I started playing bassoon when I was around 12 years old. It was a quirky, yet fun instrument. I hoped one day I would be part of the Vienna Philharmonic because I just loved playing so much and the range of emotions that one could portray with the bassoon seemed limitless. Then I got to college and dealt with the "ivory tower" personalities you mention and it completely broke the desire to play music for a living. I really didn't want to be like those people were: haughty, out-of-touch, and detached from reality. Just under a decade of study and playing got thrown out because people wanted to be so insular toward people they viewed as less "cultured" or "educated". For the short time I was in college and studying music performance, the only time I really enjoyed it was when I was performing for people or helping kids learn about the bassoon. I still miss it. I'm glad I stumbled across your RU-vid channel and Facebook as it helps me deal with not playing anymore. Thanks.
To the non-bassoonists: it is INCREDIBLY difficult to play with this level of expressivity! And I am amazed that she is so at one with her instrument. I play fairly well, but to me the bassoon always feels more like an adversary to be subdued than a symbiote, perhaps like a mattress one wrestles into the back of a small car. And that’s when I’m playing my best. Brava, Sophie!
i have played the bassoon since I was 13 years old and I play in the symphonic band, for the pandemic I had to quit, but I am doing my best to become like you, you really are my inspiration to study and play the best.
Fagott ist wunderschön, selten ein Instrument gehört, das meine Seelenstimmung besser zum Ausdruck bringen kann. So melancholisch, so warm, so freundlich, so fröhlich, so witzig.....
Unfassbar, wie die Holzbläser (Theo Plath, Sharon Kam z.B. - und natürlich Sophie D.) in den letzten Jahrzehnten diese Lebendigkeit und Farbigkeit auf dem Instrument entwickelten, die früher Streichern vorbehalten blieb! (Und der einstmals französische Akzent wird ja immer wienerischer! ;)
