I am going to try to type in an interview between Michael Charry and Myron Bloom. It was part of the liner notes to a CD release;Sony Classical,Szell,Cleveland-Richard Strauss,Don Quixote-Pierre Fournier,Don Juan,Horn Concerto 1 with Myron Bloom as soloist.
I hope there will be no auto-correct/spelling errors. Ok,here I go.
MYRON BLOOM REMEMBERS GEORGE SZELL.
by Michael Charry.
Myron Bloom was born in Cleveland,where he studied with Cleveland Orchestra second hornist Martin Morris. During my tenure as apprentice and associate conductor to Szell at the Cleveland(1961-1972) I had the opportunity to work with both Morris and his former pupil Bloom,who had become a matchless team. I asked Bloom how he first came to the Cleveland Orchestra:
Myron Bloom:I was playing at Marlboro,and Berl Senofsky(assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1951 to 1955) heard me play and arranged an audition with Szell. So I came to Cleveland,I played,and that was it. He hired me for third horn(in 1954). A year later,I got a call from Chicago saying, “We’d like to have you come and play first horn here.” I went to Szell and said,”I’ve been offered Chicago,first horn,and I want to take it.” Szell said to me,”Haven’t you heard? You’re going to be the next first horn of the Cleveland Orchestra.”
Michael Charry: Do you remember your first concerts as first horn,how that felt?
MB: I remember that whole first year. I was in a total state of shock. I’d walk on the stage and off like a zombie,my face white with fear and apprehension and panic-for the whole first year. I remember the first “Till Eulenspiegel.” Szell rode me mercilessly,and I was beside myself. I said,”I can’t let this go on.” This was my first experience with him in any way. I walked back,knocked on his door,and he said,”Yes,” and I walked in. Before I could say a word,I burst into tears. And he was so….sensitive. He embraced me. He was incredible.
MC: Tell me about playing the Strauss concerto.
MB: For the Strauss,Szell played the piano. I played the horn. We went right through it from beginning to end. He said,”Stunning.” Then with the orchestra,I just went right through it,never stopped. On the recording,I made just one insert,that was it. Right through from beginning to end.
MC:What else do you remember about playing with Szell?
MB: I remember everything I played with Szell and the orchestra. I remember the Mahler 9th very well. I know I’m patting myself on the back,but I can’t resist telling my Mahler Ninth story. We played the Mahler Ninth in New York and then took it to Boston. The Boston critic,Michael Steinberg,wrote a very long article in the Sunday paper,which featured me. It went on and on about me. He compared me with every other horn player then playing. It was such an ego bath for me,but it was well written,and(laughs) I believed it,of course. The next day in Boston,when I got in the elevator,there was Szell. We were alone,and he said,”Can I touch you?” A perfect straight line.
MC: You said,”Szell lives inside me all the time. “ Can you explain what that means to you?
MB: Szell’s way of music was to get everything clear and in order at first. Then the music-making could start. It couldn’t begin unless everything was right:rhythm,dynamics,articulation. But then when you began,when all that was in place……
MC:Then what happened?
MB:Magic.
