Klarinet Archive - Posting 000199.txt from 2002/03

From: Elgenubi@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Love and Clarinets
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 18:59:39 -0500

List,
This is a very rich day. I've just returned home from a great
excursion to Palm Desert to hear Christopher Hogwood and Tony Pay play some
Mozart. As I drove, I was composing in my head some of the things I might
say to you all. So full of feeling, I wondered if anyone ever really, really
shared deeply from their heart here on the List. And how was my wondering
answered? I read my e-mail. Richard Bush invited me to stop lurking and
jump in. Nancy Buckman wrote a long review of Patricola clarinets, a subject
very, very dear to me. I've been obsessing about Rosewood since I learned
that Patricola makes these clarinets; I intend to try them, and if they play
well for me, I'm going to have one. (But that whole thread can wait until
later.) And finally Neil Leupold told a very personal and deeply felt story,
for which I thank him. Of course, there's room here for heart felt stories;
we give gifts to each other when we talk about what we grieve for, or long
for, or love.
So, I'll jump in.... The last 24 hours have been just exquisite for
me. Clarinets have been one of the loves of my life. And I set out after
work yesterday to go to this concert by the Ancient Academy of Music. Now,
Palm Desert, California, is a two hour drive north of Escondido (near San
Diego). The nicest way of going is on two lane roads up past Palomar
Mountain, over the San Jacinto Mountains, and down into the desert. I live
and work in Southern California, with all the bustle and noise that entails.
I love pointing my truck away from that bustle. This was a beautiful, yet
surreal drive. The countryside, even in the mountains, is desert dry and
rocky, and, illuminated by the setting sun, it is gorgeous. The lights were
coming on in Palm Springs and Palm Desert as I came down the grade; later,
walking into the concert hall it didn't seem possible to have a greater
contrast that of the drive and that of listening to this lovely old music.
I have never heard this kind of 'authentic' concert before. I had
forgotten this, until last night: once in Geneva, the old caretaker (owner)
of a museum of musical instruments let me take an old boxwood clarinet off
the wall and play on it. I was flabbergasted with pleasure. I don't really
understand why I like this musical instrument so much, but I''ve felt this
way my whole life. When the orchestra came on stage, real people holding
boxwood clarinets and oboes, and old looking bassoons and flutes, too, I
admit tears came to me. Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. And the trumpets and
horns were natural, of course. The old couple on my right were pretty polite
as explained, I guess nonstop, everything I knew about old instruments in the
ten minutes available.
I enjoyed the concert very much. I could have listened to Tony play
the Concerto twice. The first time, it was hard to look away from his
technique and the interesting instrument, to listen to the music. I liked
the sound of the old instruments. The concert started with the Marriage of
Figaro Overture; I had to listen at first for the balance between the winds
and strings. The overall sound was so different from what I was used to. I
was nervous for Tony for about two seconds, since he came out and talked
about the basset clarinet and then the tutti started and he never tooted or
blew or even licked his reed before his entrance. He was just fine. I will
avoid all those usual adjectives (sweet, light, etcetera, etcetera) about
what it sounded like, except to say he made the scale sound even and clear.
I suppose I expected more muffled tones from the cross fingerings. As I
relaxed into the music, one of the best things was to dream about Mozart.
This was music more like he heard. This was a setting more like he was used
to. And as Dan Leeson quoted Robert Levin saying a few days ago, I've heard
this concerto on recordings more than Mozart ever could have in life.
Somehow hearing the music on his instruments helped me hear it fresh. The
extra drama of the Haffner Symphony also was flavored differently by being
played on these older instruments; I heard it freshly. In the finale, the
oboes sat up and lifted their instruments somewhat to project or perhaps
simply because they were feeling the music. It was a visual accent to the
music, again seeing clearly these old instruments. The encore was Mozart's
arrangement of 'If you knew Suzy, like I knew Suzy..'.
I went back stage afterward and thanked Maestro Hogwood and said hello
to Tony. I hope they felt well received by their California audiences. (I
had hoped that they would have had a larger audience.) Tony graciously asked
if I wanted to try his horn. Again, more pleasure. It was my first
experience playing the low basset 'c'. The clarinet felt so flexible. For
me the cross fingerings did sound fuzzy, but I sensed how one could learn to
make them clear. The sound seemed more closely than I am accustomed linked
to the shape of my mouth. It was a very nice feeling.
So, it all fits together. The lovely drive, old clarinets, Mozart,
(maybe even a new clarinet for Wayne). I suspect there are a lot of you, if
not all, that can relate to my enthusiasm. I'll go back to work tomorrow,
and I probably won't write so flowery very often, but I sure do enjoy knowing
there are a bunch of other people out there who like these things. Happy
clarinetting!

Wayne Thompson

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