Bassoonarama 12/12/16 Sudler Recital Hall Yale

Annual holiday performance of bassoon grad students at Yale. Curated by Professor Frank Morelli and his gaggle of bassoonists, the crew performed "the classics as they were meant to be played". They took the stage with the loping theme to Alfred Hitchcock's tv show. Morelli and various incarnations of six students played selections by Prokofiev, Korsakov, Liszt, and Shostakovich. Occasionally, the monstrous contra bassoon was enlisted for true low end assistance. The bassoon is a  truly expressive instrument and when played by a group they give an impressive sound. After intermission, some oboes and an English horn came out for some jazzy takes on the nutcracker. The show closed with a rousing version of the Sabre Dance. The bassoon is a wooden instrument with a double reed that looks like a rocket launcher with a metal wick, it's low sound was a favorite of early cartoon theme songs.