Klarinet Archive - Posting 000018.txt from 2004/09

From: kurtheisig@-----.net
Subj: Re: [kl] Vincent J. Abato
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 04:19:28 -0400

My one Abato story----though I am sure Steve Adelstein has plenty more he will tell me....

In one of several clinics with Sigurd Rascher I asked about a wonderful saxophone recording by Abato--perhaps it was his recording of the Creston---but I think the Glazounov??

Rascher was HIGHLY offended that Abato had worked the piece up in "two weeks" and felt that it was outrageous that someone recorded a piece without working on it for at least 6 months!

-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Sent: Sep 1, 2004 9:17 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Vincent J. Abato

Dear List,

My name is Adam Michlin and I am a good friend of Mr. Abato's. I've noticed
some activity on the list recently regarding him and thought I'd take this
opportunity to make an offer to the list.

Unfortunately, Mr. Abato has no interest in getting or using a computer
(believe me, I've tried to talk him into it!), but he has reached a phase
in his life where he has become more interested in talking about his career
and experiences. This was not the case for the majority of his career. If
people have any questions for Mr. Abato I would be more than happy to pass
them on and return whatever response I get.

For those of you that don't know Mr. Abato, he was the bass clarinetist
with the New York Philharmonic just before WWII and had a very long career
as the bass clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera. He was on the clarinet
faculty of Juilliard for many years and played principal clarinet in the
Voice of Firestone Orchestra for 17 years (with none other than Daniel
Bonade on 2nd clarinet). His students include Eddie Daniels, Phil Woods
(clarinet), and my own teacher Victor Morosco (which is how I met him).

Mr. Abato has asked that I set the record straight in regards to his
studies with Daniel Bonade. He did take a "couple" of lessons with Mr.
Bonade, but does not feel he studied with Mr. Bonade for a long enough
period to be considered a Daniel Bonade student. I don't think he would
mind me sharing his frustration with people who take a few lessons with a
teacher and then represent themselves as "students" of that teacher.

I would also like to clarify his name. The J. stands for Joseph, not Jimmy
or James. Jimmy is the nickname all his friends call him by and was often
listed as his first name on his more commercial recordings, although there
was no conscious effort on the part of Mr. Abato to separate his recordings
with different names. James Abato is simply incorrect, despite what was
published on the cover of a very early issue of The Clarinet.

Just the other day I was having a conversation with Mr. Abato about a
student of Daniel Bonade's that Mr. Bonade wanted to use as a sub in the
Voice of Firestone Orchestra. The student was none other than a young (then
relatively unknown) clarinetist named Robert Marcellus. This is just the
tip of the iceberg of experiences Mr. Abato has had and is now willing to
share.

-Adam
amichlin@-----.com

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