5 Minutes with… Howarth Artists | Daniel Fuster
For our third in the series, here is an interview with Howarth artist Daniel Fuster.
We are delighted that Daniel will be performing the C.P.E Bach Oboe Concerto in Bb on Saturday 3rd September as part of the AFOES weekend of concerts and exhibitions in Barcelona.
Daniel plays on our LXV model oboe.
An introduction to Daniel
Daniel Fuster studies in Valencia, Leipzig and Salzburg with Jesús Fuster, Christian Weltzel y Stefan Schilli as his main professors. He has worked and collaborated with very prestigious orchestras such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Frankfurt Rasio Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra del Palau de Les Arts, Teatro Regio di Torino or the Orquestra del Teatre del Liceu.
Currently he is the oboe professor of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona and in the ESMAR ( Escuela Superior de Música de Alto Rendimiento ), in Valencia , and a formal member of the Trío Ditirambe.
Where are you based?
In Valencia (Spain)
Tell us about your early musical life, where did it start and what made you choose the oboe?
I started my studies in my town, at the Music Band school, when I was 8 years old. At 12 I continued studying at the Conservatory in Valencia.
When I was a child, we lived on the same street as the music school in my town.
I chose the oboe, according to what my mother tells me, because one day as I passed through the door of the music school I heard an oboe and its sound caught my attention.
Did you always want to be a musician? If you had another career what would you have done?
I really always wanted to be a musician. My grandmother tells me that when I was 4 or 5 years old I used to stay in front of the television watching classical music concerts, so I think it was something that was always inside of me. On the other hand, if I hadn’t been a musician, I would have loved to study philosophy.
What has been your musical highlight(s)?
One of them was my 3 years at the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, at the time when we had Ricardo Chailly as chief conductor. Another very important one was my experience in the Bavarian Radio Orchestra (Munich). And finally, I would also like to highlight the years I was in the orchestra of the Valencia Opera, directed by Lorin Maazel and Zubin Metha, with whom I was able to learn and enjoy a lot.
What are favourite/worst things about playing the oboe?
What I like most about playing the oboe is enjoying its beautiful sound. In the orchestra it always has a leading role and the solos written for this instrument are always very beautiful, as composers often use it in delicate, melancholic passages.
What I like least is the dependency we have on reeds. We invest a lot of time in its manufacture and the result is often not good. This can become frustrating, but in the end we learn to live with this situation. The final balance of the good and bad things about the oboe is always positive
Where are you playing currently?
I have been working in orchestra since I was 23 years old, when I started at the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. My last permanent job in orchestra was as First Oboe in the Barcelona Opera Orchestra, five years ago when I decided to dedicate myself exclusively to teaching. I am Professor in 2 Conservatories and it is not easy to coordinate all this and also be fixed in an orchestra. They also invite me to play as Guest in several orchestras and this makes him maintain that important contact with the orchestral activity.
Favourite composer/piece? New piece?
I love baroque music. So Bach is always an inspiration to me. His music for oboe is part of the most important repertoire for the oboe. As for the new music, obviously I have admiration for Berio and his Sequenza. But there are other pieces like Piri by Isang Yun or Sonata for solo oboe by Heinz Holliger that I consider really great and already essential works in oboe literature.
What Howarth instrument do you play and why did you choose it?
Currently I play an LXV. I love its sound, it’s really sweet, beautiful, versatile… and I feel very comfortable with it. It is an instrument that adapts to my technique when working with the air column and above all to my reeds, and that is very important. I feel very happy and very safe playing with him!
If you have anything else you’d like to tell us about please add below.
I am very happy to have discovered this magnificent instrument. I want to thank the work and treatment of all the members of the Howarth team. They really make me feel like one of the family.
Listen to Daniel