Klarinet Archive - Posting 000746.txt from 2003/05

From: POWELLM397@-----.com
Subj: [kl] FREE CD
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 03:47:27 -0400

Dear List members,

I am again offering a free CD for those who are interested.
It is a collection of some of our favourite repertoire.

Why am I offering it for free?
A form of marketing, getting my name known.

Are there any catches?
No, I or my PA will send you a CD for free.

If you are embarassed to get a free CD, you can get one from Gary Van Cott,
for which he will charge you a modest fee at http//www.vcisinc.com

CD. Son e Lumiere.
Claude Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie
Andrey Messager Solo de Concours
Francis Poulenc Sonata
Camille Saint-Saens - Sonata Op 167
Igor Stravinsky - Three pieces
Wilfred Josephs - Clarinet Sonata No.2
Alamiro Giampieri - Il Carnevale di Venezia
Rimsky Korsakov - The flight of the Bumble Bee

Just send me an email and I will send you a CD.

Below are some of the reviews from the International Press.
Review of Son et Lumiere June 2002 issue of "The Clarinet". ICA
International Clarinettists Association
Released in 1996, Son et lumiere features an excellent first
recording of Wilfred Joseph's attractive Sonata No. 2 for clarinet and
piano, and concludes with two virtuosic showpeices.
Brittish clarinetist Martin Powell, born in London in 1962, won a
scholarship at the age of 16 to study with Georgina Dobree. From 1981-85
he continued his study with Dobree at the Royal Academy of Music, where
he won the Geoffrey Hawkes Prize, the John Solomon Wind Soloist Prize,
and placed both first and second in the Nicholas Blake Ensemble Prize. He
was also awarded the Leslie Martin Scholarship and a major award from
the Ian Fleming Trust. His other teachers have included: Bill Ducker,
Richard Addison, Guy Deplus, Thea King and David Campbell. A runnerup in
the International Clarinet Congress Competition, Powell has performed in
Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Spain. He appeared as soloist with
the New English Orchestra performing Mozart's Concerto in Salzburg,
Seining and London, and in 1999 he was a finalist in the Haverhill
Sinfonia Soloist Competition. Pianist Stephen Robbins studied with Hamish
Milne and Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music. He holds a M.
Mus. degree from the University of Surrey.
The opening selection is a technically polished perormance of Claude
Debussy's Premiere Rapsodie. Powell plays with a well focused sound
throughout the instrument's range, adding just a hint of vibrato at
times.
Andre Messager's Solo de concours, written for the Paris Conservatory's 1899
competition, is one of the more frequently performed
pieces of this genre. Much of this performance emphasizes technical
brilliance. The "andante" is beautifully played with a nice sense of
rubato. The cadenza is performed with exuberance, and the final "allegro
vovo" flies.
Both Poulenc's Sonata (1962) and Saint-Saens' Sonata (1921) are
given solid performances by clarinetist and pianist alike. Powell plays
with fine control and lyricism in the slow movements and remarkable
technical facility in the fast movements.
Igor Stravinsky's Three Pieces (1919) are given convincing
performances, although the brilliant final piece loses much of its
rhythmic drive and vigor because of the excessively fast tempo. The
appearance of an inexplicable piano chord at the end of the first line
of the second piece is certainly an error in editing the CD.
Wilfred Joseph's compelling Sonata No. 2 was composed in 1988 for
Martin Powell, who gave its first performance with pianist Stephen
Robbings at the Harrogate International Festival in 1990. Josephs'
Sonata No. 1, Op. 148, composed only a few weeks before this work, was
also dedicated to Powell.
The works of Josephs (born Newcastle, England, 1927; died 1997)
include 12 symphonies, 22 concertos, overtures, chamber music, operas,
ballets, vocal works, and more than 200 scores for television and film.
his Sonata No. 2 (publishedby Lengnick in 1990) for clarinet in A is
approximately 12 minutes in length. Powell and Robbings fully capture the
charm of this appealing work in this recording. Together they bring out
the lyric beauty the opening "moderato" with its broad flowing lines,
the rhythmic inventiveness of the delightful "intermezzo," and the
rhythmic drive of the concluding "vivo leggiero." Martin Powell's
playing is at its best in this work. His tone is resonant and well
focused, the rhythm precise, and his high register playing is excellent.
The work is characterized by long phrases, perpetual motion effects, and
a scarcity of rests all handled expertly by Powell.
Powell exhibits a fine sense of hubato and virtuostic technical
ability in Giampieri's brilliant Il Carnevale di Venezia. The concluding
work, The Fight of the Bumble Bee, Transcribed by H.Wl Davis, is played
at breakneck speed and displays Powell's remarkable technical facility.
While the recorded sound is somewhat bright,the instruments are
nicely balanced and the overall quality is good. Program notes are
included. Martin Powell is a remarkable clarinetist and I recommend
this recording.

Review in the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone, Volume 5 , Number 1 March
2002
Son et Lumiere
Music Concertante MCCD1
Martin Powell - Clarinet
Stephen Robbings- Piano

The literal translation of this disc's title, Son et Lumiere, is sound and
light. Martin Powell set out to break the barriers of both when he considered
tempos for the recording. This is not to say that his metronome is permanently
calibrated 10 notches above the rest of the world, for he is very good at
sustaining interest and line at a slower pace, but he is not reserved when it comes
to unleashing his formidable technique through liquidity of tonque and
fingers. He is an artist of extremes, often striving toward the limits of dynamic
range, tempo ( both slow and fast) and at one or two places, towards extremes of
good taste - if such a thing can indeed be measured. For all these reasons I
have grown to enjoy this disc, honouring it with repeated listening.
The repertoire is a satisfying and mostly familiar compilation, including the
Sonatas of Poulenc and Saint-Saens, the Premiere Rhapsodie and Solo de
Concours from Debussy and Messager, Stravinsky's Three Pieces and the inherently
flamboyant Il Carnevale di Venezia of Giampieri. Concluding the recording is
Rimsky-Korsakoff's Flight of the Bumble Bee. A special treat on this disc is the
inclusion of Wilfred Joseph's Calrinet Sonata No 2 Op. 149. Josephs' first
sonata was written for Martin Powell in 1988. Like Brahms, Josephs loved the sound
of the clarinet so much that he began work on a second sonata immediately.
Sonata No.2 was prepiered in 1990. The first movement is beautifully enigmatic
with exquisite lyrical lines that interrupt a recurring darkness. The interplay
between Powell and pianist Robbings is excellent. Powell displays some
delicate articulation in the buoyant and playful second movement and movement three
is infectious and charming.
There is on intriguing addition to the performance of Stravinsky's Three
Pieces for clarinet solo. Early in the second piece is a random and oddly placed
piano chork which had me on the reverse button a number of times. A devilish
image comes to mind of someone accidentally leaning on the keyboard during
Powell's best take. Not for a second should this oddity overshadow Powell's
playing, which is brimming with skill and character, a statement that could be made
about his performance in general. He exhibits sensitive softer playing in the
Debussy, Poulenc, Saint-Saiens and particularly the Josephs. At the other end,
a strident tone was sometimes the result of pusing for mazimum contrast. This
desire to push for extremes is exactly why this disc is appealing. The
communication between the performers is evident even without visual confirmation and
the inclusion of the wonderful sonata by Wilfred Josephs is reason enough to
purchase this fine recording. - Neil McGregor

in Winter 1998 CASS, by Gordon Lewin.
Here`s the text:-
A CD of familiar fare played with brio and confidence by MP, possessed of an
enviable technique and a nimble tongue. The Debussy receives virtuoso
treatment, with it`s lyric poetry well contrasted with the Gallic scamperings of the
Solo de Concours. The tone is warm and expressive, tho` sounding a trifle
forced in fortissimo - (recording balance?). Poulenc and Saint Saens are played
with panache and great assurance, and full opportunity is taken to explore the
more virtuosic passages. Legato sections come over with a pleasing freedom of
phrasing, as does the first of the Stravinsky Three pieces. From this point on
it is flamboyance all the way. W. Josephs` Sonata, one of the most individually
melodic and rhythmic works to appear in the clarinet lists of works in recent
years, is interpreted in glittering style. The CD ends with impressively
virtuosic performances of Caneval of Venezia, and Flight of B. Bee. These two
technically demanding classics positively bubble with exuberance held under fine
control. A CD of stature from a fine exponent of the instrument.
G.L.

Regards
Martin Powell

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