Klarinet Archive - Posting 000716.txt from 1996/02

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Eduard Brunner
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 10:48:31 -0500

I remember a year or so ago (as I'm sure a few others do -- Dan, for
sure) starting a veritable flame war when the subject of a trio of female
British clarinetists arose. They were Thea King, Janet Hilton, and Emma
Johnson (not Thompson!) -- who I "lovingly" dubbed "The Three Queens."
Simply put, and completely unabashedly, I hate their playing. I won't go
into why just now, but I was (and continue to be) very strong in that
opinion.

I almost feel the same way about Eduard Brunner's playing, except that he does
have a redeeming quality or two. This may very well break down into one
of those "clarinetists' perception" versus "non-clarinetists' perception"
issues, in that (for example) when other non-clarinetists hear Stanley Drucker
play, they hear his enormous musicality and musicianship. They hear the
beautiful phrasing of a *musician*, not a clarinetist. But we, as
clarinetists -- as practicing "scientists" of the "art of playing
clarinet" -- tend to focus on the trees instead of stepping back to see
the proverbial forest. It's certainly one of my weaknesses -- and I DO
consider it a weakness, regardless of how important it may be to be
possessed of a critical ear when addressing the issue of clarinet playing.

When I hear Eduard Brunner play, I have a very difficult time getting
past his thin, edgy sound. He tongues like his mouth is full of cotton
-- or maybe the tip of his tongue is perpetually swollen, I don't know.
Very poor definition of stacatto in his playing. And typically, he plays
everything MUCH faster than the marked tempo - be it Danzi, Rossini, or
Weber. You name it, he races through it, seemingly as fast as is humanly
possible. His dexterity is phenomenal -- yet, so is Neidich's, but
Neidich shows restraint and refinement amidst that towering technique of
his. With Brunner, it's that same edgy, whining tone at all times, and
while the music may very well be in there somewhere, I find myself
distracted by what I perceive as grotesque shortcomings. It just isn't
at all pleasant. But that's just me. He may very well feel that he has
reached the pinnacle of his abilities -- that how he sounds, and how he
articulates, is his paradigm of clarinet perfection. I'll have none of it.
Yech. Eduard, I dub thee "Kaiser" (and boy, does THAT word have multiple
connotations!).

With love, and opinions,

Neil

On Thu, 22 Feb 1996, Mark Gustavson wrote:

> There's a new ECM recording (1995) of works by Gyorgy Kurtag, and Robert
> Schumann that features among Kim Kashkashian and Robert Levin the clarinetist
> Eduard Brunner.
>
> Does anyone know Eduard Brunner's playing and/or other recordings he is on?
> The performance of the Fantasiestucke, op. 73 is wonderful as well as
> unusual. The tempo of the first movement is mm 63! But through the combined
> efforts of the pianist's and clarinetist's phrasing and balance it remains
> fluid.
>
> There is a trio (cl, vla, pno) by Gyorgy Kurtag (a living Hungarian
> composer) that uses spots of the clarinet solo from Bartok's "Miraculous
> Mandarin" as material but without sounding contrived.
>
> Schumann's Marchenerazahlungen, op. 132 is also on the recording.
>
> Mark Gustavson
>