Klarinet Archive - Posting 000458.txt from 2004/10

From: "rien stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] Tony Pay
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 19:37:40 -0400

Hello to all of you

It is a bit late maybe, in these times, but as I was off on a short holiday,
I couldn't do so before, but as yet I will still give you a short comment on
a concerto I visited two weeks ago.

It was a concerto given by the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra. I will not
tell all about it, but restrict myself to the for this list most interesting
topic: the soloist. This soloist was Tony Pay. He played two pieces: the
concertino opus 26 by Weber we all probably know well, and a concerto
written by a Dutch composer, Mann, I never before had heard of.

The Mann concerto is a develish piece. After the concerto I read it, it
really is even more difficult then I thought from listening to it. But
hearing Tony it sounded só easy you must be a clarinettist yourself to hear
at all that it is difficult: people sitting next to me thought it couldn't
be hard to play ... . But I decided it was not worth while for me to study:
little content, much show-off (for me, that is, Tony didn't play it that
way! Maybe more pro clarinettists should try to delve into it?).

Tony also played the Weber concertino. He and I had a discussion about it a
couple of years ago. I thought he played it very fast in some of the
variations at that time, and I still did this time. But when after the
concerto we met he gave me his motives to play it this way, and those were
very valid motives I must say, although I still prefer to play it somewhat
slower, but maybe that is because I am not a professional clarinettist. We
also had a discussion at that time about a certain passage, and obviously we
didn't understand one another at that time. Tony showed me two copies he has
of the piece, and I showed him my copy, and then we came to understand one
another.

But that is just an unimportant sidestep. The important thing is that the
concerto was a joy to be with. The "Allegro for four string quartets" by
Johannes van Bree and Schubert's sixth symphony of course belong to the
"iron repertory" of music, and so does Weber's concertino. But it was a joy
to hear it performed by Tony. Not a new experience: he recorded it several
times, and I heard these recordings several times. It is quite different to
hear a recording, however, from hearing a life performance, but I think I
need not tell so anyone on this list.

And of course the Mann concerto was like a world premiere to me: a brandnew
piece, played by a more than just very capable performer ...

Tony, thank you

Rien

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