Klarinet Archive - Posting 000055.txt from 1995/01

From: "Michael A. Cassara" <MikeC414@-----.COM>
Subj: What have I started?
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 18:35:16 -0500

Hi everyone,
In my brief abscence of (4) days, much has gone on here. Here is how I feel
about Richard Stoltzman (remember this is an opinion, I do not want any
letter bombs for my personal opinion) : To me he is a very creative player, a
self made man, a technical virtuoso, and an experimenter. I have listened to
many recordings of the Copland concerto. Before him did anyone attempt any
of those wonderful embellishments? Are they wonderful? (I may not be doing
justice as I still have never listened to the Benny Goodman recording,
however I doubt Goodman would ever dare to do that in a classical piece. He
was very uptight about his classical)
Many of you are straight
forward legit musicians, for this I applaud you. Richard Stoltzman is an
instrumental icon to me as he is one of the few who have explored other ways
of playing a piece. I value this creativity and ideas. To many of you out
there I can see your view. It is almost like the jazz communities reaction
to Kenny G. I for one (while I do not enjoy) admire Kenny G for playing his
way, even though it may be a desperate attempt for cash.
As Mr. Leeson so brilliantly stated we are all aloud to have our oppinions.
I have mine, you have yours. None of you will ever be able to convince me
that Richard Stoltzman is not a good clarinet player. I think he is one of
the most innovative players in a long time. I refuse to argue with anyone
as to who the greatest clary blower is in the world. If there are 10000
clarinet players out there we may have 10000 oppinions. I like vibrato, so
shoot me. I don't like sax vibrato but I think a little vibrato in the high
register shows dignity, class, control, and many other things.
Well we have 14 inches of snow here in Cleveland so I might have to type a
little longer.
To John Blegen : What was it about the Theodore Presser Co.? Do they hold
that Bernstein piece? I didn't see it in their catalog.

To Neil and whoever else is interested: The Stoltzman CD I was talking about
is on RCA Red Seal, I think the number is 09026-61790-2 It's all I could
find on the package and disk.

Again, I'll be reading all your messages and posts and I'll be back in the
swing (dare I say the word amongst all this talk) of things.

Still out of shape from new years gig,
Mike