Klarinet Archive - Posting 000498.txt from 1995/11

From: Chad Smith <csmith@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Copland
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 10:15:48 -0500

>Bb,
> I know this iwill probably cause a ruckuss but I have heard just
>about all the recordings there are and I still have never heard any to
>equal the MUSICAL (not technical) import of Benny Goodman's original
>recording with Copland conducting. It seems that some want to play it as
>a jazz concerto (it's NOT) and some play it like an etude (also useless)
>but none as heartfelt and straightforwardly "American" as Goodman did.
>The best live performance I ever heard was with Stanley Drucker and the
>New York Philharmonic. Let the flames begin.
>
>Fred Jacobowitz

I pretty much have to agree with you, Fred. For the past several years, all
I'd heard was the Shifrin, Drucker, and Stoltzman recordings of the Copland.
Stoltzman really jazzes it up, and like you said, it's not a jazz concerto.
I like Shifrin's recording ( I think the man has two tongues ) as well as
Drucker's. But I just recently got a copy of Benny Goodman's performance, and
it is just superb! He's Benny Goodman, now, so the technique isn't flawless,
nor is the tone quality, but it is a great recording, and I do believe that
that's the way the Copland is meant to be played.

-my two cents...

Chad Smith