Klarinet Archive - Posting 000768.txt from 2003/05
From: EClarinet@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Stoltzman/operatic arias
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 11:34:12 -0400
In a message dated 5/28/03 3:16:53 PM EST, Wayne writes:
<< Question for all: has this been done much, i. e. clarinetists
interpreting
operatic arias on recordings? If so, have they been popular or pleasing?
What
do you like?
I'm an amateur. I'm interested in style and expressiveness, aware that the
expressiveness of the voice is held up as our model to some degree. I'm
also
aware that Stoltzman's style sparks a lot of debate. So I'm curious about
other performers and their attempts at arias. (I'm a Stoltzman fan, big
time; I
learn big time from every performing clarinetist.)>>
And Clarence said:
<<<Besides being fun, it's an instructive exercise to attempt to play opera
arias on the clarinet as beautifully as they have been sung by some of the
glorious voices we are fortunate to have on recordings. And it is helpful to know
something about the
words to which the music was written.>>>
There are several cds out there with people doing operatic/vocal material. I
have one by Colin Bradbury called "The Bel Canto Clarinettist" which has a
lot of interesting pieces that are takeoffs or 'fantasies' on operatic material
by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, and others. Since I am an opera
singer, specifically a coloratura soprano, and my focus is the bel canto repertoire,
I had to have this cd! He does a pretty nice job of 'getting' the proper
style of this music, although I don't particularly care for his tone. You can
tell that he has some idea of what singers do with this material, that he's done
his homework.
I also have 2 cds of Robert Spring, who is a great virtuoso clarinetist (you
should hear him double tongue and circular breathe at the same time!), and a
nice guy (he did a masterclass here in Orlando at UCF), and he does one of
these fantasies, the Rigoletto one by Bassi, on his cd "Dragon's Tongue". It is
very technical and exciting, and always tasteful, but not really informed from
a singer's standpoint.
Another well-known clarinetist who likes to play operatic music is Sabina
Meyer. She has a group that plays a lot of those arrangements of Mozart's operas
for woodwind octet. In her case, you can tell that she has NO CLUE AT ALL!
It is obvious she has never listened to singers doing this music that was
written for them, and as a singer, it drives me crazy! In particular, some of the
tempos are just so wrong. If I didn't sing, I would probably love these
cds, because it's fun to hear woodwinds play Mozart's music. I always love the
scene in Don Giovanni near the end, when he's having dinner to the
accompaniment of the wind octet.
A major interpreter of operatic music on clarinet is Richard Stoltzman, and
from a singer's standpoint, he is WONDERFUL! Both Wayne and Clarence mention
the voice being held up as a model of expressiveness, and so does Bradbury's cd
liner notes, when they talk about 19th century clarinetists like Henry
Lazarus learning great phrasing from singers.
Stoltzman does sing with his clarinet, as much as that is possible. I think
that's why there is so much debate about his playing...he sounds so different
from so many clarinetists, in my opinion because of the way he uses his air,
and the many tone colors he is willing to try. You may not like that in the
Mozart Concerto, but in vocal music, it is necessary. And it gives him the
ability to play in the altissimo register beautifully...just listen to the end of
"Summertime", where he interpolates 'it ain't necessarily so' WAY up there, and
it just floats and shimmers...fabulous! I love this so much, I now add it on
when I sing 'Summertime', and I try to emulate his clarinet sound with my
voice! :-)
In the "Aria" cd/book, he actually explains his reasons for how he plays from
a vocal standpoint, and gives the player part of the text the singer is
saying, so the clarinetist will know what to express at that point. His wife
sings, and she helped him with this volume. I personally sing 11 of the arias on
the cd, and I can tell you that he gets it right!
Elise Curran
Orlando
EClarinet@-----.com
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