She came, she sawed, she conquered.
Caroline McCaskey of San Pablo brought down the house at the
San Francisco Symphony in three concerts from May 10-12 with her deft
performance of the violin solo from Offenbach's
"Orpheus in the Underworld."
The San Jose Mercury raved, "Caroline McCaskey practically stole the show by playing
Offenbach with the soaring lyric perfection of a great diva."
But she didn't play it on the violin, even though she's an accomplished
fiddler. She played it on the musical saw!
She was nervous before the first rehearsal, but when she
reached the highest note in the cadenza, members of the orchestra signaled
their approval by clapping, whistling and stomping their feet.
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas also got a big kick out of
it - laughing, applauding and slapping the side of the piano. After the first
concert he gave her a big hug.
"I took that as a good sign," she says.
MTT was even more effusive after the final concert on
Saturday, kissing her on both cheeks and exclaiming, "You ripped us
up!" (Old lumber mill pun.)
He also autographed her saw – a 28-inch Charlie Blacklock CB
Special, writing, "For Caroline, the prima donna assoluta of the saw.
Brava!" on the blade.
That saw will never be used again.
"I have retired it," she says. "MTT has been
a hero of mine at least since high school, if not before."
Not to worry. She still has another Charlie Blacklock CB Special,
autographed by Blacklock himself, as well as an ordinary carpenter's saw she
bought at Home Depot. Blacklock signed his saw on the handle, not the blade, so
she can still play it without worrying about erasing his autograph.
Blacklock, who lived in Alameda, died in 2008. He was one of
the greatest sawyers – that's the technical term - who ever lived.
In 2007 Caroline won the annual International Musical Saw
Competition – aka "The Saw-Off" – in Roaring Camp, defeating many old
timers who have been playing the saw for longer than she's been alive.
"The competition is just an excuse to get together,"
she says. "There are so few sawyers in the world, it's hard to find
someone to play with. The real fun happens beforehand and afterwards, at the
jam sessions."
Curiously, the musical saw is actually a sidelight for
Caroline, who splits
her time between teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area and at Swallow Hill
Music in Denver, where she teaches fiddle, cello and, of course, musical
saw.
But her first love is the fiddle, which she plays solo as
well as in musical groups, including the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers.
As I said, Charlie Blacklock was one of the greatest musical
saw players ever. But he was not the most famous.
That distinction belongs to – believe it or not – Marlene
Dietrich! (You can see videos of her playing the saw on YouTube or Google
video. You can see Caroline, too.)
Incidentally, this was not Caroline's first time in the
limelight. A few years ago, she and her saw were featured on "I've Got A
Secret," along with a strongman who bends nails in half, a woman with the
world's smallest waist (15 inches, and she's had three kids!) and the man who
invented the pink flamingo lawn ornament.
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