Klarinet Archive - Posting 000641.txt from 1995/06

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Leon Russianoff
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 20:23:24 -0400

Dan,
I studied with Leon for seven years and was around when he
finally started performing again. Let me say that he was an extremely
fine player, not just an average one. In lessons he would demonstrate
passages in pieces such as the Nielson Concerto for me which I could never
get and he could nail them, even if
he did no practicing, but sat in his studio and taught all day. And
that's not just my experience. Lots of his former students will tell you
about how good a player he was. His
problem was horrible stage fright. That's why he never performed. Contrary
to the myth, he was, according to a couple of old-time players who heard
him when he was a young freelancer, a pretty darn hot player. He was
also, as you say, a genius as a teacher. Too bad they never had inderal
back then (well, maybe it's good after all. If he hadn't stopped playing,
I'd never have studied with him).

Fred Jacobowitz

On Mon, 26 Jun 1995, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> I add to David Neithamer's excellent description of Leon a personal
> note.
>
> I knew Leon reasonably well and always attributed his excellence as
> a teacher to the fact that he was not a stupendous player. He was,
> like many of us, very normal and not a genius at execution. That
> was his strength as a teacher.
>
> When a student would come to him for help he was invariably able
> to help because, no matter what the student was trying to accomplish,
> Leon had already been there trying to accomplish that himself. At the
> same time, a number of New York's stupendous clarinet player group
> were also teaching and some of them simply could not comprehend why
> their students were unable to do certain things. THEY had never had
> those problems and could not relate to someone who could not surmount
> difficulties of that nature.
>
> I always watched Leon's lessons with a bit of awe. He invariably
> chose the right word picture to describe what he (the student) needed
> to do. And he was more of a bear than I when it came to words that
> he perceived as having little or no standard meaning.
>
> He was especially good with the very superior student and the inferior
> student, making sure that he did not injure the latter with a careless
> remark. Once at a symposium/master class he gave in Denver, he worked
> with a student who simply did not have the necessary equipment to play
> the work effectively. Leon went after all the things the student did
> well and never mentioned that he probably thought the student would never
> be able to be an effective player. He had rhythm problems that were
> innate. But Leon was very careful not to humiliate him in front of
> other people.
>
> Perhaps Leon and I got along so well because we had different interests
> in clarinet playing, his being central to performing and mine being
> centeral to performance practices. He was always deferential to me and
> I was in awe of the things he did well.
>
>
> ====================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> (leeson@-----.edu)
> ====================================
>