Klarinet Archive - Posting 000940.txt from 2004/07

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] ClarinetFest 2004, day 2
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 15:24:45 -0400

ClarinetFest report, continued....

On Thursday, July 22, when the dealer rooms opened, a whole lot of clarinet
players made like sharks in a feeding frenzy. I found nearly everything on
my list and allowed myself to buy a thing or two (or six) that weren't on
the list. Easily could've spent the next year's budget in there. Recent
praise by Nancy Buckman and others on this list for the Ridenour reed
finishing system encouraged me to buy that kit. Haven't had a chance to
try it out yet.

I'll finish the dealer room part of the report out of order: I decided to
wait to buy a doubler's stand for my contra-alto until I'd asked here and
on the Contrabass Maniacs list whether anyone was using the K&M bass
clarinet/bassoon stand for a contra. I wasn't sure whether people would
consider this stand sturdy enough for the larger clarinet. Nobody from the
klarinet list replied, but I got several positive (and no negative) answers
from contrabass folks and from people attending the Fest who use the stand
successfully for contra-alto. By the end of the Fest, I'd seen several
participants using these stands for contra-altos. I bought one on
Saturday. It's working out fine. I had thought that the tripod on some of
the display models looked a little bit high (possibly tippy), and had
wondered how many models were out there, but it turns out that the tripods
were all made the same, adjusted taller or flatter with a giant set-screw
for anything from a tall peg to no peg. With the tripod set low and wide,
the stand is very stable.

The clinic by Edward Palanker, “Bass Clarinet for Dummies,” was anything
but dumb, since he's not only an expert but also an articulate and
entertaining speaker who -- despite the program title -- assumes he's not
talking to dummies. He studied with Leon Russianoff, Eric Simon and Joe
Allard, and graduated from the Manhattan School of Music. He now plays
clarinet and bass clarinet with the Baltimore S. O. and plays principal
clarinet with the Choral Arts Society of Baltimore, among many other
musical activities. His gift for clear explanation, along with his obvious
rapport with students when he conducted the high school honors clarinet
choir on Sunday (a concert that included a fine solo performance by his
student, Dagmar Van Engen -- more about that in a later report), make clear
how Mr. Palanker earned his reputation as a fine teacher. (Ricardo Morales
studied with him.) In addition to teaching private students, Mr. Palanker
teaches at The Peabody Conservatory. In his ClarinetFest seminar, he
covered the significant differences a player will notice when switching
from soprano to bass clarinet. I don't own a bass - - yet! -- and have
never spent significant time practicing on one, but since most of his
comments also apply to the alto and contra-alto clarinets, which I do own,
I picked up some pointers that I can use right now.

I dithered a long time, trying to decide whether to go to the Fabio
diCasola recital or to the ICA High School Solo Competition finals, taking
place in the same time slot. Going to either of them would mean missing a
seminar with Carmine Campione and another with Loren Kitt, in the
Conference Center; and as it turned out, the contest also ran too long for
me to go to the shared recital with the Captiol Woodwind Quintet and Viva
Klezmer! in the Performing Arts building. Every day brought such choices
-- I wanted that "time turner" gizmo Hermione Granger used to attend two
Hogwarts classes at once!

As I've mentioned here before, I was a dismal failure at piano competitions
as a student, nearly half a century ago, and developed a strong aversion to
music competitions. I remember telling someone at the ClarinetFest that
piano competitions were (probably still are) brutal, because of the
worldwide overpopulation of pianists. The judges acted as if they felt it
was their moral duty to euthanize about two-thirds of us, while the
grim-faced kids were ready to gnaw each other's fingers off (before or
after we threw up in the green room...) to gain any advantage. I'd just as
soon never go near another piano competition again. However, I had never
witnessed a clarinet competition before, or any music competition in modern
times. At first, I told myself that attending a competition would amount
to picking at a scab, but I was so curious about how (or whether) things
had changed that, at the last minute, I jumped up from my seat in the main
concert hall and scurried around the corner and down the hall to the high
school finals instead.

Dollars to doodlebugs that all five finalists (who got there by submitting
recordings) will go on to professional careers in music. All five were
extremely good clarinet players, with solid approaches to the two required
pieces, first John Wenzel Kalliwoda's "Introduction and Variations," Op.
128, and then Willson Osborne's solo "Rhapsody for Clarinet" (1958). One
student's father ably accompanied her on piano. The other four all used
the same house pianist, who adapted well to each student's tempo and style.
All five finalists showed some unfortunate mannerisms, moving their
clarinets around enough to affect their intonation, but that's the sort of
thing people can unlearn. All but the top two had some wobbly rhythm in
the Kalliwoda argpeggios. None showed damaging stage fright, though one
young man may have had a bad reed day, or maybe he bites down when he's
nervous.

The judges probably had a difficult time deciding between first and second
place. Technically, both the first and the second place finishers shone.
My first thought was that I might have reversed the order of first and
second, because the young woman who placed second had the best tone
quality, played the most consistently well (toward the end of the
Kalliwoda, the others all lost focus a bit) and showed such unusual grace,
poise and stage presence. She alone looked relaxed, made frequent eye
contact with the audience and seemed to *enjoy* performing. However, since
the intense young man who won demonstrated a more individualistic
interpretation (still within the bounds of good taste and good sense), and
took more chances to play with greater expressiveness and dynamic range, I
thought placing him first was a reasonable decision, too; and by the next
morning, I decided I agreed with the judges, after all--or might have
agreed with them if I could have rewound the hours and sat through the
final again! That's why they're the judges and I'm an amateur sitting home
and scaring the cat....

Either times have changed a lot, or kinder and gentler people live in the
woodwind world than in the piano world, because this was the most
humanely-run, dignified and civil music contest final I've ever seen. The
MC spoke informally, with a relaxed, pleasant look on her face. She
sounded upbeat, encouraging and cheerful. She set the tone for the
audience, which collectively behaved itself (unlike the piano contest
clacques with their dirty tricks, forty years ago). The five finalists
were allowed to come back into the room and sit in the audience after they
performed, but they weren't required to come back. (All of the contestants
acted civilized, too.) There was none of that ugly business of letting an
audience try to eavesdrop on the judges deliberating. After everyone
played, the judges left the room to confer. (I remember too well how I
used to squirm around and watch judges glare at each other, roll their eyes
heavenward in theatrical exasperation with each other, petulently toss
pencils on tables, and leak information by stage-whispering....) All the
audience heard was the final result, from the MC, not from a judge. Also,
after the awarding of places, the MC promptly invited the audience to
leave. If the judges gave notes, they did so privately, not in front of
the audience. Along the way, I noticed that I not only didn't mind hearing
the Osborne "Rhapsody" five times in a row, but liked it better every time
I heard it, so when I went back to the dealer room on Saturday, I bought a
copy of the sheet music, at the Luyben booth.

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

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