Klarinet Archive - Posting 000555.txt from 2002/03

From: w6w@-----. Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Ma, get me the shotgun
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 17:37:35 -0500

<><> Elise Curran wrote:
What were you watching that incensed you so much?

It was a live concert (1000 persons or so in the audience). I suppose
it's Ok to mention the name --- Renee Fleming --- but I don't intend to
trash her as a singer.

It's just that many opera sopranos attempt the same thing, and I don't
understand why they think it works. The songs were Gershwin, such as
"They can't take that away from me", which especially dragged her (imo)
to ridiculous extremes.

I guess what really bothers me is that the audience applauded
enthusiastically. I asked myself: "_Why_ are they applauding!?"

My eventual answer --- and I hope I can be forgiven for saying this, but
it applies to clarinet playing as well, and therefore I think it's on
topic:

A single-minded person can be so enamored of a particular sound that
they can't accept that there are some places where it doesn't fit.
Therefore they close their ears and assert the sound's beauty even when
it is grossly unsuitable for the purpose at hand.

Alto note on the clainet are often misused (imo) in this same way.
This year, I heard a local clarinetist and a world class clarinetist
each play the Copland concerto (several months apart). There is a
"wild" spot (a whole note, I believe) in the 3rd movement that
distresses me terribly if it's played wrong. The local clarinetist
made this particular whole note be part of the composition, while the
world class clarinetist leaned on the same note for its own sake and
every nerve in my body cried for relief for minutes afterwards. I was
still hurting when the triumphant gliss came along. He played the
gliss beautifully, with tremendous strength and melody and precision,
but the piece was already ruined by that time (for me).

....enough jabbering

Cheers,
Bill

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