Klarinet Archive - Posting 000203.txt from 2003/11

From: "David Zimet" <dzimet1@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Feidman in New York
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 09:02:51 -0500

One of the greatest concerts I have ever been to was Feidman playing with
his group in El Paso some 20 years ago. He entered from the rear of the
hall playing bass clarinet - the most magnificent sound - and then totally
captivating the audience for the next hour. Yes - if you can see him you
shouldn't miss it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Wolman [mailto:kenneth.wolman@-----.net]
Subject: [kl] Feidman in New York

This is not musical critique, I don't know how to do that. It's purely an
appreciation, I'm starting to write on less than five hours' sleep, so
factor that in.

Giora Feidman as leader of a quartet--clarinets, double bass, guitar, and
bandoneon--was at the 92nd Street Tisch Center for the Arts last
night. The printed program lists it as a concert of Israeli music. The
presence of the bandoneon should be a tip-off that "Israeli" in the context
doesn't necessarily line up with "Klezmer." There was plenty of that, but
everything Feidman plays seems to absorb where he's been over 67 years,
growing up in Argentina and living in Israel since 1957. He will slide in
an out of tango, or, better, he will klezmerize tango. In fact the program
was entitled "TangoKlezmer," and featured material from Bat Chaim, Feidman
himself, Piazzolla, Scott Joplin (you guessed it), Prokofiev, several other
South American writers I never heard of, the three members of Feidman's
quartet, and even Mozart.

What Feidman can do with an audience...get us to hum along with the Adagio
from K.622 which he was playing on the basset horn...and I remember he
spent 20 years as principal in the Israel Philharmonic. He is in fact
quite a showman...enters from the back of the hall, the sound of the
clarinet is almost imperceptible, he walks down the aisle playing, looking
at people, gets us to hum one note as his "ground" for the melody he's
playing, an Ora Bat Chaim song called "Together." I usually find audience
participation embarrassing, but Feidman draws you right into it.

My S.O. said "I thought he'd be kind of stodgy, but boy, is he not." He
was dancing to the music, laughing with the band members, generous in
sharing the program and platform with those three other men, all of whom
wrote music for the program. The standout was Raul Jaurena, bandoneonista
and composer, who played an extended composition of his own, and whose work
concluded the evening, a multipart composition called "Sueño Musicál."

So what's Feidman anyway? I've seen a few critical comments that he really
doesn't represent Klezmer in its pure form, and probably that's right. How
do you classify a man who makes tango sound like klezmer and klezmer sound
like tango? As himself, or if you want a Word, perhaps "fusion" will
do. Near the end of the evening Feidman spoke--in this very weird
combination of South American and Israeli accents--about music being the
unifying force in the world. I don't think this was anyone's standard
yakkety-yak--as an encore he played a song he assembled--two measures each,
alternating--from "Hatikvah," the Israeli national anthem, and a
Palestinian anthem. It was almost shocking how much the music sounded
alike.

I stopped collecting autographs a long time ago but I went over to him in
the art gallery last night and asked him to sign my program. He evokes
emotion: a woman he seems to know from both here and Israel embraced him
and was weeping. Now you can look at music as the tool of emotion as
potentially dangerous, and it is; but it wasn't last night. Feidman
himself made it clear he was using the music as the instrument of holding
people together, that we were the fifth instrument in what was really a
quintet even though there were only four musicians onstage.

Oh--might as well do this. I was in the 3rd row, center, so I got a good
look. Yes, they're Buffet instruments, I can't tell which models except
the bells had no metal rings. Either a Bb or A, a C, and a basset
horn. And yes, the Pomarico mouthpieces which got foggy but not
disgusting. I don't know what type of reeds:-). I'm disappointed only
that he didn't program anything for the bass clarinet.

The quartet is on tour. I don't know the itinerary. If he's within
driving distance: Go.

-------------------------
Kenneth
Wolman http://www.kenwolman.com
http://kenwolman.blogspot.com
"Sometimes the veil between human intelligence and animal intelligence
wears very thin--then one experiences the supreme thrill of keeping a cat,
or perhaps allowing oneself to be owned by a cat."--Catherine Manley

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org