Klarinet Archive - Posting 000765.txt from 2003/05

From: "Gillian Craven" <gillian_craven@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] FREE CD
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 11:05:48 -0400

martin,

just sent you an email and forgot to give you my address. sorry!

it is

Gillian Craven
40 Mains Hill
Park Mains
Erskine
Renfrewshire
Scotland
PA8 7JD

cheers!

>From: POWELLM397@-----.com
>Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
>To: klarinet@-----.org
>Subject: [kl] FREE CD
>Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 03:47:27 EDT
>
>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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