Klarinet Archive - Posting 000755.txt from 2003/05

From: jimmy lee <jrlaudio@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] FREE CD
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 06:50:09 -0400

Jimmy Lee
3 Oakdale Drive
Cartersville, Georgia 30120-2308

POWELLM397@-----.com wrote:

> 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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Klarinet is supported by Woodwind.Org, http://www.woodwind.org/