Klarinet Archive - Posting 000828.txt from 1999/09

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] NY Philharmonic Concert of 9/23
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 23:19:10 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.12
> Subj: Re: [kl] NY Philharmonic Concert of 9/23

>
> American auto engineering must be a remarkable thing - when a plug lead
> broke internally on my 4-cylinder car, it wouldn't move more than a foot
> or
> two on 3 cylinders.
> It's interesting that Drucker gives this impression, though. What music
> *would* stretch him???
> Roger Shilcock

I don't think that anything ever written would bring him to the
16 cylinder level. When he did three performances of the Nielsen
concerto with Bernstein (and I was there for all three), he kept
insisting that Bernstein go faster. It appeared to me he was on
about 12 cylinders for the fastest performance.

Never liked him!!!!! Evil man. He made a compact with the devil to
be able to play that well.

>
>
> On Fri, 24 Sep 1999, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:
>
> > Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 05:16:44 -0700
> > From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
> > Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> > To: klarinet@-----.org
> > Subject: [kl] NY Philharmonic Concert of 9/23
> >
> > Last evening I saw the TV show "Live from Lincoln Center" in which the
> > NY Philharmonic played Tchaikovsky's 5th, Kurt Masur conducting.
> >
> > There was a great deal of camera work focusing on Drucker, as there
> > should have been since so much clarinet material is prominent and
> > it is the custom to focus on solo players.
> >
> > It is a constant source of amazement to me how wonderfully he is
> > still playing. I remember Stanley when he was 17 or so and I thought
> > that he was incomparable then, but today he is so very much mutured
> > as a player with a remarkable depth to his orchestral playing.
> >
> > It is clear to me that he is aging physically, but he is by no
> > means an old man. He still retains much of his youthful appearance
> > but his face is starting to show his age. Fortunately for us,
> > his playing is not starting to show its age.
> >
> > He and I have had differences of opinion on many things musical
> > over the years, but for longevity and strength of performance, there
> > has been nothing like him in the world of American clarinet playing,
> > ever! The position that he holds is certainly among the most
> > prestigious in the world, and the pressure must be awesome. Yet
> > he holds the chair as if he were born to nothing else, which is
> > probably the case. I think he was born without nerves!
> >
> > He reminds me of a 16 cylinder car that has only about 11 cylinders
> > working. That is, there is no piece ever written that required
> > him to get all 16 cylinders moving. He is such a master of the
> > instrument that the most complicated passages ever written for the
> > instrument require only about 11/16ths of his extraordinary talent,
> > with the typical work needing only about 7 cylinders from him.
> >
> > I have seen clarinet players in the position of 1st in the NYP since
> > Bellison whose successor was (I think) McGinnis who himself preceded
> > Drucker. It's been a hell of a ride.
> >
> > =======================================
> > Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > leeson@-----.edu
> > =======================================
> >
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>
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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