Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 1994/07

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Klezmer music per Lisa Clayton's inquiry
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 1994 14:27:49 -0400

Lisa, I am the wrong person to give you advice on Klezmer players because,
except for Feidman for whom I have enormous respect, I don't find any great
ones. Besides, Feidman is a soloist with a Klezmer band built around him
and his remarkable capabilities as a player and as a musician. On the other
hand, in most Klezmer bands, the clarinet is simply one of the bunch who
plays a solo from time to time. Like most things, some are better than
others, but none have captured my fascination with Feidman's intensity.

The Boston group, "The Klezmer Conservatory Band" has had several clarinet
players and I have heard most of them. They began with a young Afro American
who was very ingenious in his improvisational skills but I could find no
fire in his playing. That doesn't mean he has none. It only means what it
says. I could not find any. Currently the KCB clarinetist is a woman who
is very competent to be sure, though her playing went out of my mind 60seconds
after I heard it. Feidman's is still in there, rattling around in the empty
spaces and when I think of it, it comes right back to the surface and I
still suck in my breath.

While much of Klezmer music is emotional, its purpose was primarily
entertainment of the moment; i.e., a wedding, a joyous festival occasion.

I don't find Feidman's involvement in whatever the Klezmer movement is to be
of that nature. His personality and imagination are so strong that he
elevates the entire thing to a different level of sophistication. To be
frank, I consider him less and less of a Klezmer player every time I hear
him, and more of an artist in a highly specialized field such as playing
at Greek weddings, etc.

As for Meyer, she is a most remarkable player and the Berlin Phil disgraced
itself for treating her as it did. Bringing her into the Berlin Phil was
one of the very few things for which I think Karajan deserves kudos.

Almost any recording of either of these two great artists will be worthwhile
for you, but I don't give specific record recommendations based on subjective
judgements. I'll tell you who I think does which edition, and who doesn't
seem to understand what performance issues are about, but I won't say if
clarinet player x play piece y beautifully (or badly) on disk z.

My comment on an earlier note that I found Feidman's view on what Klezmer
music was (not a style of playing but a philosophy) to be total nonsense
resulted in a rebuke. I point out that I stated that this was my opinion
and may not apply to anyone else in the world. While anyone can take issue
with my opinions any time they wish, it's a free country and anyone may
have an opinion to voice on this board. No one should feel inhibited from
voicing any opinion they wish simply to avoid being rebuked for holding it.

It is one thing to rebuke the opinion. It is quite another to rebuke the
holding of that particular opinion.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================