Klarinet Archive - Posting 000237.txt from 2003/09

From: "Tim Roberts" <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] von Weber's Concertino, Op 26
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 17:17:23 -0400

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 10:30:15 -0700, Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net> wrote:
>
>The purpose of a cadenza was to demonstrate the imagination of the
>performer in that s/he was expected to take some (or even all, in
>extreme cases) of the melodies of the movement and instantaneously and
>spontaneously combined them into a brief fantasy.

Caution when reading what follows: my ignorance is surpassed only by my typing
speed.

As a listener, I have always rather appreciated the fact that the Mozart
Clarinet Concerto has no cadenzas. Too often, cadenzas end up being more of an
annoying interruption than an enjoyable side trip.

Here is an example. My favorite performance of K.622 is the 1984 recording by
Antony Pay and the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. That CD
also contains Michel Piguet playing Mozart's Oboe Concerto, K.314.

I invariably shut off the CD player when the oboe concerto begins. The
performance is certainly skillful enough, and the melodies enjoyable enough,
but the cadenzas (I believe there are three) just do not seem to belong. The
concerto moves along like a freight train running smoothly along its tracks,
when suddenly the train slows to a halt, while we wait for the circus to go by
so the train can start again. They are interruptions, not variations.

I suspect my feelings might be very different if I were in the position of
playing cadenzas. To date, the only concerto I've ever performed as soloist is
Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto #1, which also contains no cadenzas.

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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