For better part of three decades, Karl Stobbe and Gwen\u00a0Hoebig\u00a0sat alongside each other in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, working and playing together both in and out of the Centennial Concert Hall. It makes sense then that when Stobbe\u2019s plans for a Winnipeg Baroque Festival Concert fell through, he knew exactly who to call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know what to do, I just do the smartest thing I could\u00a0possibly do\u00a0and call Gwen and say, \u2018Well, are you busy?\u2019\u201d Stobbe smiles. \u201cAnd she said, \u2018No,\u00a0that\u2019d\u00a0be fun.\u00a0Let\u2019s\u00a0do it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The result is that Stobbe and\u00a0Hoebig\u00a0\u2013 concertmasters past and present of the WSO \u2013 will reunite on stage to share Refractions of Bach at Canadian Mennonite University\u2019s\u00a0Laudamus\u00a0Auditorium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Old and new duets\u00a0<\/p>\n
As veteran duo partners, it did not take much effort to Stobbe and\u00a0Hoebig\u00a0to piece together a program on\u00a0relatively short\u00a0notice. \u201cWe\u2019ve done some of this repertoire before and some we haven\u2019t,\u201d shares Stobbe, \u201cand\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0got to be\u00a0kind of creative\u00a0about this in a way that is, I think, unusual and fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The concert element that Stobbe is most excited about is a pairing of J.S. Bach\u2019s Two-Part Inventions alongside some of the 44 violin duos composed by B\u00e9la Bart\u00f3k. While he admits that the pairing may be shocking to conceptualize (Bart\u00f3k lived some 200 years after Bach and was influenced by folk music rather than the church), he thinks of Bart\u00f3k as a \u201cnatural successor\u201d to Bach\u2019s violin writing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey use harmony \u2013 although really different harmonies \u2013 in similar ways,\u201d Stobbe explains. \u201cThey juxtapose those things together in similar ways. I think one of the things that I think about it is when\u00a0you\u00a0first\u00a0start, you definitely hear the difference what\u2019s Bach and what\u2019s Bart\u00f3k… but by the time you get to the last ones, you\u2019re almost not sure which is which anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n
A new chapter in a comfortable dynamic\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he looks back on his first full year as concertmaster with the WSO, Stobbe is also reflecting on his relationship with\u00a0Hoebig, who held the chair for 37 years until her retirement last year. \u201cWhen I play with Gwen, the great thing about that is that\u2019s kind of how I\u00a0made my chops in this city was playing with her and learning from her,\u201d he says. \u201cI learned a lot, but now\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just incredibly comfortable to play with her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great beauty of it is you can start to anticipate one another,\u201d he says of their duo dynamic. \u201cYou\u00a0kind of get\u00a0how each other\u2019s musicality will work in certain situations, so you feel like you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to\u00a0reinvent the wheel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n