Nicholas
Daniel
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Meet Nicholas Daniel
Principal Oboe
What do you enjoy about
playing with Britten Sinfonia?
I love the quality of the
sound of the orchestra, in anything from Varese to Bach. It's really special,
distinctive and beautiful but never for beauty's sake. Sometimes, like
with Imogen Cooper last season, it sounds like the best orchestra
in the world. I also love the colleagues I work with inside the band,
and right now we have two incredibly exciting new members in crucial
seats: Jackie Shave, our new leader; and Michael Cox, our new Principal
Flute. I admire them both so much as people and as musicians and I am
really looking forward to seeing more of them! It's a very supportive
orchestra and I have an almost unique situation in it, conducting sometimes,
being soloist sometimes and playing in the band.
When did you start playing
the oboe?
I was 10. My Granny had heard
it on the telly and suggested it. I was trying for various choir schools
and you had to play two instruments. I played the piano (hated it at that
time!) and took to the oboe fairly quickly, partly because I had
a really wonderful teacher, Irene Pragnell. I did my grade 8 within 18
months of starting.
Do you remember your
first orchestral experience?
Good grief yes. I was thrown into
the Mendelssohn Scottish aged 11! I thought I would die and there was
no way I could play it! Playing the oboe badly is remarkably noticeable!
What has been the most
memorable experience in your career so far?
It's very hard to choose one as
all the really great occasions one has to try and move on from, they become
just the last performance you gave. I suppose winning Young Musician of
the Year in 1980, singing the Allegri Miserere solo as a boy in Salisbury
Cathedral, and John Woolrich's Oboe Concerto at Aldeburgh last year with
the CBSO and Oramo. There was just a sense of having arrived somewhere.
…and the funniest?
Accompanying Pippa Davies in a Mozart
Flute Concerto during a massive rain storm in a school in Wales where
there were huge glass domes in the roof. We simply couldn’t hear ourselves
think. We had got a bit hysterical on the long coach ride there by watching
the film Rambo, and it never quite calmed down before the concert started.
Everyone was weeping with laughter except for Bridget Alexander, the second
oboe. We had all calmed down a bit (except for poor Pippa) by the
start of the second movement at which point Bridget inadvertently snorted
and nearly stopped the orchestra completely. Why is it always raining
in Wales ?
How does Britten Sinfonia
fit into your career as a whole?
It's an important part of the portfolio
of my career (sounds organized but there's no real plan; someone
get me a life coach!!!!) , which includes conducting, studying conducting
with Maris Jansons and Simon Rattle, concertos, recitals, Haffner Wind
Ensemble, running the Leicester International Music Festival, being
a Professor in a German Music College, and being on the Arts Council.
But despite the draws on my time, I give Britten Sinfonia a
lot of time and energy because I really care about the quality
of the band and the quality of the concert experience for the players
and the audience. I believe one must really strive to communicate
with people and make programmes unmissable and thrilling. The Community
and Education department is simply huge now and very cutting edge. I'm
very proud of what we have achieved there, with no dedicated budget. The
orchestra is local to me as I'm a Cambridgeshire man, and I think
one should make a difference to the area one lives in as well as on the
international stage.
How do you relax?
I have two absolutely adorable
pure bred Britten Sinfonia children (I'm married to founder member and
Principal Clarinet Joy Farrall) and their various shenanigans seem to
take up a lot of my time. They are crazy about dancing and are getting
very good at it, so I'm often seen at shows helping put glitter on places
that it wasn't intended for and such things. Otherwise in what time is
left: wine, books, telly, cinema, theatre, opera, and internet - I'm a
bit of an e-bay freak! My Who's Who entry also states Home Birth Studies
and Star Trek! I'm still toying with writing a book on home birth for
men and I do love science fiction. I'm a member of the Association for
the Improvement of Maternity Services and the Association of Radical Midwives.
I think our babies deserve the best start in life. I'm also a member of
Jabs (pro informed choice on vaccination) and Good Practice, which works
to get doctors and their patients talking together!
What are you looking
forward to most about the forthcoming BS season?
Being selfish, I'm looking forward
to my first chance to direct the most important Oboe Concerto we have,
the Strauss. Without conductor it will be a little hair raising, but very
good in terms of getting what we all want musically. I'm also
very excited about our lunchtime series in Cambridge , Britten Sinfonia
at Lunch. A grant from Arts Council England East made the series possible.
I must say that they have been so fantastically supportive to the orchestra,
we simply wouldn't be where we are without them. BS at Lunch includes
a world premičre in each programme, alongside complementary chamber works.
It was quite a jigsaw, but fun to curate, and I think it will be a really
interesting series.
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