Klarinet Archive - Posting 000926.txt from 2004/07

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] ClarinetFest 2004, day 1
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 15:40:50 -0400

I've appreciated Jim Lytthans reports from ClarinetFest 2004, espcially
since we happen to have attended mostly different events. When making the
difficult decisions about which of the overlapping programs to attend and
which to miss, I tended to favor workshops over concerts, since most of the
workshops were lessons in subjects about which I knew little. I also tried
to sample a variety of different types of events, since this was my first
ClarinetFest.

After discovering, back in May, that I'd missed the deadline to sign up for
a dormitory room, I decided not to stay in the much more expensive Inn and
Conference Center or other hotel/motel lodgings and to commute from home
(in Virginia) every day, by Metro subway and bus. That way, I would have
enough money to go -- not quite nuts, but modified, limited nuts, in the
dealer rooms. However, going home every night meant I missed all of the
nighttime events (nearly all of the major concerts), because I live on the
opposite side of the subway system from the University of Maryland and was
afraid I'd miss the last Metro train if I tried to stay late. Therefore my
reports will cover only things that happened in the daytime. Instead of
writing one gargantuan message, I'll cover one day at a time, starting
with....

Wednesday, July 21

The opening recital, by David Krakauer and his group, Klezmer Madness!, was
wildly exciting, and would have been even better if not for gross
over-amplification of the accordion and the electric guitar. At times,
they completely drowned out the clarinet solo. The entire ensemble was
over the pain threshhold for me: way, way, way too loud for the size of
that hall. The hall was empty before their recital, the first of the day.
Didn't they do a sound check? But Krakauer's amazing. I don't know much
about klezmer music, but his performance, improvisations on traditional and
new Jewish themes, made me want to learn more. He's working in the klezmer
tradition, but allowing it to grow and adapt to changing times, by bringing
in modern instruments, such as the electronic guitar, and techniques such
as rhythm with sampling from historic klezmer recordings (on some of his
CDs, though he didn't use hip-hop techniques here).

After the klezmer recital, I made the mistake of deciding to hit the dealer
room early, before all the good stuff was gone. I asked questions at the
sign-in desk, but nobody there could tell me anything about the chartered
shuttle bus's frequency or departure point. Since the distance between the
two venues looked reasonably short on the map (with microscopic lettering
-- I couldn't read most of it even with reading glasses, and brought a
magnifying glass with me subsequently), I set off walking, on a hot, muggy
day. Maybe I chose poor routes, because my walking time, by two different
routes out and back, was twenty minutes each way. It probably would have
been shorter for someone without my arthritic knee. Arriving at the
Conference Center, I wandered around trying to find the dealer room. There
were no signs to inform me or the other people I encountered similiarly
wandering that, contrary to the printed and online program, the dealer
rooms would not open until Thursday.

Why wasn't there a sign with that information on the bulletin board next to
the sign-in tables in the Performing Arts lobby? Why weren't Fest
volunteers informed and *telling* people, when we asked how to get to the
dealer room? When I got to the Conference Center, not one of the five or
six University of Maryland employees I asked could give me any information,
either. Three even gave me inaccurate directions to the dealer room
location. Finally, after wandering around all floors of the building with
two other similarly bewildered Fest-goers, we happened to encounter Mr.
Backun and some other understandably frustrated dealers in the lobby. They
told us what was going on. Nancy Buckman was right when she reported here
on the list that the Conference Center had double-booked the dealer room.
Another convention wouldn't move out in time for the ClarinetFest people to
set up on Wednesday. It's a shame that our dealers missed a day of
selling, because when the rooms did open, they were absolutely mobbed every
day.

We bushwhacked back to the Performing Arts venue, where I suggested to
someone at the desk that they put up a sign. Other people later told me
they'd also suggested a sign; but no sign ever appeared. By this time, I'd
missed the shared recital program that I would have loved to see instead of
taking this tiring and pointless walk in the midday heat. I went into the
ladies room and stuck my face and wrists under the cold water faucet, but
still must have looked an unappetizing sight, beet red and sweaty, at lunch.

However, lunch was reasonably priced and quite good, and gave me a chance
to stop sweating like a slob before I went back into the performance hall
where people would have to smell me at close range. The Applause! take-out
counter above the lobby serves a variety of sandwiches, salads and wraps,
and at the times I ate, there were enough seats and tables in the hallway
around the corner for people to take our time and chat with each other.

That lunch nook was one of the few places in the Clarice Smith Center for
the Performing Arts where chance meetings and relaxed conversation (instead
of "Hi!" and run) were comfortable and convenient during the day. It would
have been nice to have more chairs (instead of the hard, backless and few
wooden benches) set up for the Fest in the Performing Arts building's
spacious lobby. The Conference Center did have some comfortable chairs,
and once the dealer room opened, of course, it was a magnet for crowds,
although it was tempting to get too fixated on the merchandise to see the
people. I know there were many from this list in attendance besides the
ones I met. I did get to spend some time with Nancy Buckman, David
Niethamer, Audrey Travis, Sue Raycraft, Rebecca Brennan, David Spiegelthal
(how's the finger?), and Mark Charette, among others, and enjoyed the
chance to meet the real people behind the cyber-handles.

At 1 p.m., I went to the lecture by Wayne Rapier, "Marcel Tabuteau's
Unspoken Lessons." Next came The Maryland Connection, a shared recital, in
which three well-known local clarinet players took turns performing chamber
music. My favorite performances in that group were two by Edward Palanker
and pianist Clinton Adams. With Mr. Palanker on soprano clarinet, they
played Heinrich Baermann's "Adagio," a Malcolm Arnold Sonatina and Bela
Kovacs's "Hommage a Zoltan Kodaly. " Later in the program, the same duo,
with Mr. Palanker on bass clarinet this time, played Eugene Bozza's
"Ballade." The other clarinettists, David Jones and Edward Walters, also
played extremely well with their partners in their own portions of the
program, but I'll refrain from bloviating, because their programming was
not to my taste at all, especially Luigi Dallapiccola's "Goethe-Lieder"
(sung here by mezzo-soprano Patricia Green), which I would never willingly
hear again.

Finally, I attended the shared recital featuring first David Pino, paired
up with Russell Riepe on live electronics, and next the British Clarinet
Ensemble. Pino and Riepe played Riepe's own composition, "Cruzando la
Frontera" (Crossing the Border). The two of them set up in an unusual way,
with Pino facing the audience, and Riepe, with his back to the audience,
facing Pino. Riepe's body and equipment, and Pino's music stand,
completely blocked my view of Pino, alas, but then I know what playing a
clarinet looks like; and it was interesting to watch Riepe working pedal
stops (with his stocking feet), hand stops, connections, a computer and the
electronic keyboard. I think Riepe's the real thing. He's a
post-modernist who works with non-traditional instruments, outside
traditional 12-tone harmony -- *and* writes excellent music that he and
Pino perform with great skill. This piece fascinated me from start to
finish. For what this opinion is worth, coming from an amateur musician:
I think Riepe is brilliant, and if there's any justice, he won't just
disappear into the electrons like most contemporary composers.

The British Clarinet Ensemble also played contemporary music. One piece
was a U.S. premiere: Andy Jackson's "Stand Up Now!". The other four were
world premieres: a Paul Harris arrangement of a Malcolm Arnold overture;
Anthony Bailey's "Mahleriana," Andy Scott's "Paquito" and Adam Gorb's
"Burlesque." The Gorb piece is cute to end with (and would make a good
encore), and I think "Stand Up Now!" might have legs.

More tomorrow about Day 2....

Lelia Loban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban
Kerry and Edwards in 2004, because regime change begins at home!

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