Klarinet Archive - Posting 000676.txt from 2002/04

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mozart Concerto Competition
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 12:32:11 -0400

> Dan, I realize you're trying to be honest and blunt rather than merely
> insulting; and let's assume for the sake of argument that your assessment of
> Italian knowledge of Mozart is correct, a point I'm not knowledgable enough
> to debate with you, though it seems like an awfully large generalization.

Well Lelia, let's talk generalization. Are you able to make reference
to a quality recording of K. 622 (or any recording, for that matter) by
an Italian clarinetist over the last 30 years? Have you ever heard the
work performed by an Italian clarinetist? (And by that I mean a clarinet
player who studied in Italy, lives in Italy, is a performer in an
Italian orchestra, not a person who happens to be of Italian descent.)

I am not trying to demonstrate a racist philosophy here, but simply
point out that the Italian school of clarinet playing has fallen very
far behind the German, French, American, Russian, British, and Dutch
schools. While the Italian music academies turn out magnificent
technicians who can play anything and transpose anything, the whole
matter of performance practices of music of almost any period is not a
serious consideration in the conservatories of Italy today.

If you are offended by that, then you are going to have to be offended.
I offer it as a criticism of the Italian music education system. (More
below.)

> Nonetheless, IMHO it would be more constructive to wait and see how this
> competition turns out before condemning it, rather than assume that the
> judges and other officials can't or won't learn anything between the
> announcement of the competition and its completion. Though I'm not in love
> with the entire idea of music competition, I think that a rigorous endeavor
> of this sort can provide a powerful motivation for learning and growing.

You can't be serious or one of us doesn't understand the issues. What I
spoke of was what was possible (in my opinion, likely), and you suggest
that we wait until the competition is over and then decide if the
situation was as ripe as I suggested it might be. What good does
waiting do? If one has information about the likelyhood of an
occurrence, the whole point of giving that information out is to do it
BEFORE the event so that a participant can be well prepared. To do it
afterwards as you suggest serves no useful purpose whatseover. I would
never submit to a contest of performance of this period of music if it
were held in Italy with all Italian judges, and for the very reasons I
have given.

I thought that I was doing a useful service by giving what I believed to
be a serious flaw in a contest of Mozart performances should that
contest be judged by Italian performers. I would say the same thing if
a contest of jazz music was to be judged by Ukranians, who have little
expertise with such music. I would say the same thing if a contest of
military march music was to be judged by Tibetans. (These analogies are
strained to be sure, but I use them to try and get the idea across to
you, since it is clear you misunderstood what I was saying.) Have you
heard the Hungarian National Orchestra (a brilliant ensemble, by the
way) try to play Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story?
Culturally, they have no training that allows them to do it effectively.

I would also be saying the same thing here if the contest was for
Mozartean sopranos and was to be judged in Milan. With the exception of
two or three great Italian Mozarteans over the past 40 years, the
Italian vocal schools just don't turn out people who can sing Mozart
effectively either. Same with clarinet players. Is it because Italians
make poor musicians? Certainly not. It is because the Italian music
schools are teaching Mozart as it was sung and played in 1885.

You can certainly hold a counter position, but don't waste my time by
suggesting that my comments were insulting to Italians simply because
they were the subject of the discussion.

Dan Leeson

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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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