Klarinet Archive - Posting 001422.txt from 2004/03

From: "rien stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] NERVconvention
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 17:48:30 -0500

The NERV (Dutch Single Reed Society) now is in full progress. It started
yesterday with the Clarifour quartett, later extended with the Slovakian
Jose Kalash. Interesting music, but a slightly one-sided program, as the
whole program was centred on showing virtuosity in ensemble playing. A bit
tiring, too, to listen to it nearly 45 minutes.

But then a real cracker came: Paolo de Gaspari, from Italy with the
Cappriccio Clarinet Choir. They played "Sonate for bass clarinet and
clarinet choir" by the Milanese composer Sergio Mauri. Mauri hase composed
this work especially for this convention for his friend de Gaspari. The
orchestra part was not very difficult, the soloist part however was very,
very difficult. Not technically: any professional (or even good amateur)
claribassist will be able to make slap tongue, there were two or three
multiphonics, indeed, but it demands from the player to lay his heart in it.
The first part is an easy-going allegretto, but the second part is dedicated
to Anne Frank.

In my opinion it was a marvel how de Gaspari played it. He is one of the
very great promises of our time. He can teach on any level, explain the most
difficult things in a way that make them easy for the most ungifted, and is
a player who can reach the level of players like Henry Bok and Harry
Sparnaay.

Today the convention had a very unique program: the "clarinet marathon".
Herman Braune, a clarinettist who might have been one of the world's top
clarinettists had he not been befallen of rheuma a the young age of 33, but
still is a very, very good player now he nears his 60th birthday, has
organised this marathon: he approached the 20 best Dutch clarinettists, five
of them had obligations abraod, precisely this weekend (among them Celestine
Zeewald, remember that name: in time she will be better than Sabine Meyer!),
all fifteen others promised to come. The players were coupled in groups of
two, every group having fourty five minutes to play. Then there was a
45-minute break, but during this break you could go to a clarinet choir in
another room, to hear the "choir festival", where every choir had 45 minutes
too. The programwas built up this way so every clarinettist and every choir
had 45 minutes to do the warm up, get used to the room and get tuned.

And there were other activities, but of these I will talk to you another
message.

I think I need not give you a detailed impression of today, of the clarinet
marathon or the choir festival. But I want to pick out another highlight.
One of the first records I ever bought (vinyl, nothing else existed a that
time) was a record with the two Brahms sonatas, played by Germane de Pleyer.
From the name I guessed he was a French composer, but from what I understood
from this list I think he must be English. Don't know whether he still is
alive. I never liked he Brahms sonatas, till I started to study them for
myself. Today there was someone playing them exactly to my liking: very
modest, very sophisticated and subtile. It was a revelation to me.

It was a very long day, however: it started at ten this morning, and we went
home at ten thirty this evening.

Tomorrow promises to e even longer, but I will be there again!

Ciao, Rien

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