Klarinet Archive - Posting 000018.txt from 2003/05

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl]Mid-performance crises
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 22:24:06 -0400

on 4/29/2003 7:52 AM, Bill Semple wrote:

>1) What is the experience of those on the listserve with the difference, if
>any, between pre-recital reed performance and recital reed performance?
>
Depends how much you beat the reed up in rehearsal, and when the
rehearsal is relative to the performance. Also, In some of the halls
where RSO played during my tenure, an audience changed the feel of the
hall enough to make reeds feel less comfortable during concerts.

>3) Has anyone ever had similar issues, and how do you respond?
>
No, never ;-) (If you believe this, I have some land in the Chicahominy
Swamp to sell you - east of Richmond, site of historic Civil War
battles...)

>4) Has there ever been a case where a performer has had to CHANGE REEDS
>during a performance?

Sure, but within reason. I once watched the principal of a 2nd tier major
orchestra (52 week contract) play the first 8 bars of Roman Carnival,
then change his reed during the English Horn solo. He also kept the
conductor waiting while he changed reeds before the 3rd mvt solo of
Schumann Rhenish. IMO that's a bit much, even on a tour concert in a
strange hall.

on 4/29/2003 12:28 PM, Walter Grabner wrote:

>With all the pressures of performing, playing on a different reed, is
>exactly like changing horses in the middle of the stream.
>
Yup.

>I believe that most cases of "sudden death" of a reed during a
>performance, are due to the increased tension, tightness, biting, etc,
>that can ocur, when you are nervous.
>
I see this in students all the time.

>I no longer believe in the "perfect" reed, or even the "best" reed. When I
>show up for a performance, I have at least four well broken in reeds, any
>of which I know I could perform on. As I warm up in the hall, I select the
>one that feels most comfortable for me and sounds the best in that
>particular hall.
>
>I work reeds in batches of four - simply because that what fits in the
>Vandoren reed holders . I have four well seasoned, four coming along, and
>four brand new.
>
Russianoff would tell us "you have to play on what you have in your case"
whenever we complained of "suboptimal" reeds. In "Audition Success", Don
Greene talks about "optimal" performances (good, but not necessarily
perfect). There are optimal reeds too - ones that can get the job done
even if they aren't the greatest reed you've ever played.

On Walter's subject of 4 reeds - probably this is the most a player can
keep serious track of without getting confused. I've been backstage at
performances by one particular famous solo clarinetist who regularly has
two or three boxes of reeds open on the table, reeds spread everywhere.
For the life of me, I can't figure out how you can distinguish between
that many right before a concert. Or maybe that's why *he* is the big
soloist! My feeling is that you have to figure out which reed you're
going to play the day before at the latest.

I have a lovely Harrison reed case - holds 12. I keep the most promising
four (well marked!) at one end of the case.
>
>Anyway, in this way I avoid mid-performance reed crises.

Or at least minimize them, by keeping a somewhat stable reed supply.

on 4/29/2003 9:05 PM, Karl Krelove wrote:

>I once, decades ago as a student, attended a concert at the Academy of Music
>in Philadelphia given by the Cleveland Orchestra when Szell and Robert
>Marcellus were both in their primes. The first piece on the program was the
>Prelude to Die Meistersinger. Came the first big clarinet solo, Marcellus
>put the clarinet to his mouth and you could see him blowing but practically
>no sound came out. He managed to force enough out not to have the notes
>completely absent, but as soon as it was over he had the reed off, wet
>another one and had it on the mouthpiece in time for the next solo entrance
>(meanwhile the assistant principal player filled in). The next solo sounded
>perfectly fine. So, no matter what is said about what *should* be, sometimes
>stuff happens and you have to deal with it the best way you can.

One of my colleagues saw Cleveland when she was a student at Oberlin. She
saw Marcellus crush a reed into the stand (discreetly!) at the first
opportunity after it squeaked during a solo. So it happens to the best.

David

David Niethamer
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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