Dan Boud Photography |
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Guy du Blęt
Principal Timpani Orchestra Victoria/The Australian
Ballet |
My thoughts about being a timpanist
What do I love about playing the timpani?….. I love the
mystery, and the colour and the hidden gems waiting for the
special moment to really really play so softly that you can
feel the theatre hold its breath.....time stands still and
we wait for what happens next together....a special feeling
that only happens then…..at 'that' moment. Career
Guy du Blęt joined Orchestra Victoria in 1998. He has been
playing as Principal Timpani since 2005 and has also been
Solo Timpani in the Opera Australia Ring Cycle productions
in 2013 and 2016. He has played with the Sydney and
Melbourne, West Australian, Tasmanian and Queensland
Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Opera Orchestra,
Malaysian Philharmonic and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in
Japan. He has toured throughout Asia and Europe and is a
student of Rainer Seegers from the Berliner Philharmoniker. My Timpani
Berlin Classic in six sizes, American configuration
81/78/72/64/68/52cm
Berlin 1mm polished bowls no coating
Berlin ‘Taxi’ colour with gold pinstripes
Chrome hoops
Brass indicators in German with black letters
Berlin pedals with small toe-guard
Bartholme fine tuning handle
Stage screws no wheels
Graded Kalfo vellums
Blond covers
Dresden drums in four sizes, German configuration
76/68/62/56cm
Dresden Leopard .8mm bowls no coating
‘Flame’ red frame with gold pinstripes
‘Flame’ red countertops with gold pinstripes
Brass indicators in German with white letters
Bartholme fine tuning handle
Berlin pedals with small toe-guards
Stage screws no wheels
Graded Kalfo vellums
Blond covers
Why Hardtke Timpani?
My Hardtke Berlin Classic Timpani give me the ability to
play from the low C to a high C across six drums so I can
mix and match to cover a huge range of colours and
repertoire. Being a modern player I'm always drawn to the
nature of the music and when it is from. What was Wagner
hearing and imagining in his mind when he kills Fasolt in
Das Rheingold?……does it matter? Yes it does....not because
it should be the same….but because we have to connect our
instrument to all the other instruments for the composer’s
voice to come through - these instruments make this
possible.
Our Dresden drums are my love affair with history. It is
here that so many of the great ideas we use today have come
from. The thinner bowl.....the heavy frame.....really glueing the drum to the floor….everything old is new again.
Plus....when they say yes, have any colour you like.....why
wouldn’t you choose fire-engine red.....I mean.....why not?!
The ‘red leopard’ bowl is the icing on the cake.
My Mallets
Kato
Rosenthal (the elder)
Rosenthal (the younger)
Offelder
Jansen
Kappert
Bauer
Breier
Kaufmann
Brückner
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