A. Genovese, oboist with Phila. roots

Alfred Genovese, 79, a native Philadelphian and oboist whose fine phrasing and generous playing helped elevate the performances of Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians for 21 years, died last Friday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania of complications from cardiac arrest.

Soft and sweet, expressive as a voice, the sounds that Mr. Genovese coaxed from his oboe lingered in the memories of audiences and musicians decades after the notes faded.

His approach to playing was formed in part by Marcel Tabuteau, a legendary oboist who trained generations of the world's best players, including Mr. Genovese, his last student.

"He did not stress volume of sound, but instead quality of tone, something we are in danger of losing as orchestras get louder and louder," Mr. Genovese told the Boston Globe in 1998, just after retiring as principal oboist of the orchestra.

During a career that began late because his family had no extra money to purchase instruments, Mr. Genovese played for some of the best conductors of the 20th century, including Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, and a stint with the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Genovese was the fourth of nine children and had three brothers who also became professional musicians.

His father was a clarinetist who had played for vaudeville theater performances and in Atlantic City during summers until opportunities dried up and he turned to cutting hair. Money was so tight that Mr. Genovese's family could not afford to get him an oboe until he was 16, an advanced starting age for the kind of virtuosity he would display.

"I would go to concerts by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and I loved listening to Marcel Tabuteau play the oboe," he said. "He became my idol, and I wanted to play the oboe, too."

Mr. Genovese, however, first studied with Laila Storch. "His first teacher always tells the story that when he went to her, the oboe he had was in such horrible condition that they spent most of the first lesson working on it," said Mr. Genovese's sister, Mary Ann, of Philadelphia. "But then, when she gave it back to him, he just took to it. There was no honking, there weren't any of the sounds you would hear from an amateur wind player, and she couldn't believe it."

Mr. Genovese graduated from South Philadelphia High School and moved from Storch to studying with John Minsker, before being accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he became Tabuteau's student. He began his orchestral career with the Baltimore Symphony, then played with the St. Louis Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra before performing with the Metropolitan Opera from 1960 to 1977.

"He never talked about himself at all. Al just loved to play," said his brother Arthur of Cherry Hill.

In addition to his sister and brother, Mr. Genovese is survived by his son, Joe of Plymouth Meeting; four other brothers, Lawrence of Douglassville, Berks County, Anthony of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Edward of Cherry Hill, and Richard of Hatfield; and a grandchild.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 19, at Our Lady of Calvary Church, 11024 Knights Rd. in Philadelphia. Burial will be in Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County.