Klarinet Archive - Posting 000845.txt from 1999/01

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Report on concerto performance by Jon Manasse
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 07:38:14 -0500

Last night, the Evansville (Indiana) Philharmonic Orchestra performed an
all-Mozart concert to a sold-out house of nearly 2000. The soloist was
Jon Manasse, whom many on the list will recognize as a teacher of clarinet
at the Eastman School, among many other accomplishments.

His playing of the Mozart concerto was recognized by the audience with an
extended standing ovation. His sound is very compact and centered, and he
seems capable of a seemingly almost unlimited dynamic range. His
technique is clean and facile. The performance was nearly perfectly
flawless in every way, and in addition was one of the most highly
expressive readings of the Mozart I have ever heard.

(I didn't mean for this to read like a newspaper review, but perhaps it
will convey the main points.)

After the Mozart, there was an encore, the Finale of the Concerto in Eb
for Two Clarinets by Frantisek Krommer. (Sorry this text editor won't
allow me to type all the accents and other marks which should be used in
the Czech composer's name.) The other solo part was played by the
Evansville Philharmonic's principal clarinetist, Dr. David Wright. Both
soloists played brilliantly and exibited an appropriate light-hearted
approach to this exhuberant work, which suffered from its placement just
after the Mozart, one of the most substantial wind concertos ever written.

Manasse is a young man who plays with great maturity and style. In
addition, he was a very congenial person with whom to work.

Appropos of a couple of favorite topics of KLARINET, he plays a Buffet
clarinet, and is a sponsored artist of that company.

Finally, I should mention that I was somewhat surprised that he played a
cadenza in the first movement rather than the "eingang" which is generally
employed. The cadenza was not extremely long, and it was consistent with
the style of the work. However, it definitely was extensive enough to be
called a cadenza. I recently heard a theory that the distinguishing
characteristic of the eingang is that it should be able to be played on
one breath. There were several breathing places in Manasse's cadenza.

The cadenza certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the concerto,
and I'm relatively sure there was no one in the audience who was shocked
or appalled at its inclusion.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
*****************************************************************

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