Klarinet Archive - Posting 000190.txt from 2006/10

From: "David Lamb" <dlamb@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Klezmer Concerto
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:50:53 -0400

On Saturday, October 14, I attended a concert of the Portland Chamber
Orchestra to hear the premiere of the Klezmer Concerto by Ofer Ben-Amots.
David Krakauer was the soloist for whom the piece was written, and he
surpassed any imagination I may have had about what might be possible on the
clarinet. Yaki Bergman conducted the strings and percussion of the Portland
Chamber Orchestra and provided colorful and powerful support. The Concerto
is a gem, brilliant and at the same time thoughtful. Ben-Amots is one of
the few younger composers I know who is able to be genuinely lyrical without
sounding old-fashioned. His music is thoroughly modern and yet completely
his own, drawing on his Jewish roots and the cantorial tradition. The first
movement is slow and declamatory with long lines tinged with melancholy and
yearning. The second movement is subtitled "Dance of the Seven Circles" and
contains some of the most sinuous and passionate melodies I have heard.
There is also much humor in it owing to the unexpected juxtaposition of
unlike elements. The final movement is an orchestral Halleluyah with
compelling dance rhythms and spectacular clarinet virtuosity.

I go to a lot of concerts and hear a lot of new music, but it is rare when I
hear a work that makes me stand up and
shout. This is what we all did at the end of the Klezmer Concerto. The
last ecstatic note was not over before the audience jumped up, yelled,
whistled, and carried on as if it were a rock concert. And this was not a
young audience. There were many people even older than I am, including a
few Holocaust survivors. We loved this music! Because the piece was
commissioned by David Krakauer, he will no doubt own it for a while, and in
any case, there are probably not many clarinetists who could handle it well.
I hope that there will eventually be a recording of the piece, but in the
meantime, if you have a chance to hear Krakauer play it in concert, don't
pass it up.

David Lamb in Seattle

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