Klarinet Archive - Posting 000885.txt from 1998/03

From: "Don Yungkurth" <clarinet@-----.net>
Subj: Stoltzman (was Ricardo Morales -Nielsen)
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 11:45:13 -0500

Neil Leupold said (in part):

>Some of Stoltzman's recordings of the 70's have the most beautiful tone
I've ever heard, yet I can't
>help wondering if any of that was achieved through a certain degree of
technical jiggery pokery

I've listened to Stoltzman recordings for many years and have heard him
live many times, the first around 20 years ago. I feel his variability in
concert is just as great as his variability in recordings, so I tend to
discount the "technical jiggery pokery" idea. After a great deal of
thought about Stoltzman I've come to the opinion that he can play with just
about any tone or style that he chooses to. He can be (to these ears)
superb or so-so.

In separate live concerts I attended about two days apart, around 1979, I
heard him do the Weber Concerto No.1 and the Brahms quintet. The Weber was
just plain awful, enough vibrato to etch glass. The Brahms, on the other
hand, was superb, with hints of vibrato to give appropriate warmth and a
lovely pp.

While he seems capable of playing in any manner he chooses, I only agree
with his choice about 20% of the time. Obviously, this is opinion - there
isn't any fact! To me it is almost as though his clarinet playing is
impeccable, but his musicianship is in serious question.

Oh yes, I certainly agree with the recent discussions that his Corigliano
is far inferior to Drucker's.

Don Yungkurth (clarinet@-----.net)