Klarinet Archive - Posting 000934.txt from 1998/12

From: pollyg@-----. Gulakowski)
Subj: Re: [kl] Stolzman and opinions
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 04:19:15 -0500

IN MY OPINION the better clarinetists can play with a tone that sounds
like the Dove chocolate commercial looks - liquid chocolate satin. I've
used this emotive terminology often. I am impressed with articulation,
amazed with facility of fingering but none matters as much as the sound.
I realize that if one is trying for a certain "sound" or matching a
period or style, criteria which include "chocolaty" *should not* be
allowed in a description, rather whether the performer has met the goal.
PERSONALLY, I prefer to listen to "chocolaty" tone than re-creations of
"how it's 'a'posta be, or nimble fingers or triple tonguing..."
However, Dan has his way of defining what he listens for - all his i's
dotted and t's crossed. You'd think he was a Lutheran! <];o)
No offense to your Jewish heritage, Dan. I'm a Lutheran.

Paulette
On Thu, 24 Dec 1998 08:31:16 -1300 "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu"
<leeson@-----.edu> writes:
>In my opinion, this kind of question ("What do you think of
>Stoltzman?")
>brings out the greatest number of incomprehensible postings. An
>opinion
>on Stoltzman (or anyone for that matter) should be meaningful to the
>readers of that posting. One does not have to agree but one must
>understand it.
>
>If you say "He plays too loudly" I can understand that and it is a
>point
>for discussion.
>
>But if one says that one does not like him because his sound is
>insufficiently
>"chocolately, liquidy, and poetic" that is a perception that is so
>very personal (and to me, quite incomprehensible) that I don't know
>what
>to do with it. If I were Stoltzman and wanted to fix those things
>that
>this particular opinion characterized, exactly what the hell would I
>do to make it better? Visit a Hershey factory? Read a lot of
>romantic
>sonnets? Exactly what do I do with my fingers, my head, my body, etc.
>to
>get the tone more chocolatety?
>
>If the purpose of an opinion is to communicate what one thinks, then
>one has to concentrate on things that a musician can understand and
>do something about. I admit that beauty of tone is very ephemeral and
>difficult to characterize. But if I were to say, that I like
>Stoltzman
>because his sound has the right amount of chocolaticity, liquidosity,
>and
>is as poetic as a Shakespeare sonnet, you would have every right to
>say,
>"What on earth does that mean?"
>
>Starting at the beginning: does Stoltzman play in tune? Does he make
>technical errors? Does he make rhythmic errors?
>
>It should be fairly obvious that he does none of those things or else
>he wouldn't be in the business very long.
>
>Entering into the ephemeral world, one needs to address issues such as
>tone character somewhat more objectively than was done in the example
>I am mentioning.
>
>What about performance practices? Does he play Mozart as if it were
>Stravinsky? Does he play Brahms as if it were Palestrina?
>
>But to say that his sound is not chocolatety enough is not the kind of
>thinking that any mature clarinetist should have in his/her
>repertoire.
>
>We are constanltly reading reviews which say that "xxx does not have
>the slightest understanding of the inherent ephemeral qualities of
>Debussy" and careers balance on such nonsense. Tell that to a
>student,
>even a good student, and s/he will be left very puzzled about what to
>do to fix the problem (if, indeed, one exists in the first place but
>talking about the ephemeral nature of Debussy is going to leave a
>student
>as insecure as hell).
>
>If one is going to criticize an artist such as Stoltzman, then is
>should be done with considerably more thought, care, and precision
>than chocolate, liquid, and poetry.
>
>Does he play too loudly?
>
>Does he play too softly?
>
>Exactly what is wrong with his performances?
>
>
>=======================================
>Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
>leeson@-----.edu
>=======================================
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
>
>

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