Klarinet Archive - Posting 000002.txt from 2010/06

From: "Williams, Kathy" <Kathy.Williams@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Mozart and staccato
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:32:04 -0400

Hi Alicia

Thankyou for your feeback. I think I should highlight what an effective tool is recording your practice. You become in a sense your own teacher, and you pick up weaknesses that you would miss in normal practice. For example, I had three solo recitals in four weeks in March, and couldn't understand why my back seized up completely for weeks afterward, until I watched the videos of the concerts and worked out I was tensing my right shoulder. You may notice in the video I am still doing it. I can certainly recommend recording your practice, but then not everybody has access to an audio recording device or camcorder.

Kathy-
I enjoyed your articulation interpretations. You had a nice blend of staccato and slurs (and yes your staccato is certainly a strength!
Congratulations!). With Mozart it is hard to decide how much is too much or how much is not enough, but I think it truly depends on your own personal understanding of the piece as well as personal ability. I don't think you used too much staccato but just make sure the staccato doesn't get too short and your slurs don't get crushed. The contrast is nice in your performance but sometimes it's a little too flagrant.
A couple comments on your performance: be sure not to clip notes at the end of the phrase. There were several instances where you really should enjoy the ring of the final note rather than making it so short, it seems really out of character. This problem is especially apparent in the main theme (listen to about :40) Also, be careful with your tone in the altissimo (especially that pesky high D) and ff sections in the chalumeau especially around minute 4:20. Sometimes you let your very lovely tone spread so much that you sound like an entirely different player.

I hope this is helpful! Happy clarineting!
Alicia

Kind regards

Kathy Williams
Customer Service Delivery Consultant
Customer Service Delivery
Customer Care, Telstra Enterprise and Government
Telstra Corporation Limited 1800 025 222

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