Klarinet Archive - Posting 000107.txt from 2011/02

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Latest little project
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:23:34 -0500

Kathleen,

It is kind of you to share with us, your perspective of the Mozart concerto.
Having done this, I don't know what it is you want to hear. Most people who
play the work want to be told that they are executing the work nicely., and
you are certainly doing that. But I feel, that you really have no idea of
what the role of the player is in performing that work. Are you an executer
of someone else's music or are you a participant in the creative process.

Like many players, you play what is written, without realizing that what is
written is a guide to what you should be doing, and each particularclassical
figure has a right and a wrong to way to execute it. The edition you use is
the editor's guess at what Mozart wrote because there is no original score
to consult so as to know exactly what Mozart wrote. If you want to lean the
real history of the concerto, buy "The Mozart Forgers." When you can't find
the facts, turn to fiction.

Take your trills for example. Sometime you enter trill from above. Other
times you don't Sometimes you start your trills slowly and then get faster
as you approach the end of the trill. Sometimes you end the trill with a
nachschlag, and other times you don't.

It may not sound like much but what the end result is stylistically
uncertain. It is not classical, nor is it romantic. It's confused, a
pastiche of styles ranging from Mozart the Brahms..

You need to get some really good coaching from a player (and it does not
have to be a clarinetists) on what constitutes classical style.

You miss opportunity after opportunity because you do not know what is
expected from you. For example, you hardly ever deviated from the solo
line, and in that sense you are a literalist playing the piece like every
other young clarinetists. If I close my eyes, I could not tell your
performance from that of 1000 other fine young players.

When Mozart writes a line you have to look for repeated material. Look at
the third measure of the first clarinet entrance. "F-D, F-D C-B-natural."
That repeated F-D is an invitation for you to do it differently on the
repetition. Mozarft wants you to be part of the creative process, and you
all you are doing is playing what he wrote. And asx for the C-B-natural, how
many ways can you think of to get from C to B-natural other by going
directly from one note to the other. There are 10,000s to you, and you
chose the most oridnary.

One of the reasons why jazz is so exciting is because it constantly allows
the players to move away fromt he melodic line, and you don't do that at
all.

Towards the 2/3 point in the movement Mozart has whole notes, one high, one
low, etc. Those whole notes are the end points of what should be scales, or
interavlas or something to make them infinitely more ineresting, but not
knowing this, you get stuck in the mud. You may be of the opinion that to
modify the melodic line is a sing. Nonsense.

YOU NEED TO READ A GOOD BOOK ABOUT CLASSICAL STYLE.Don't ask me to recommend
one. You do the work..

You certainly play nicely, but that is not enough. Do you know what rubato
is? Read about what Mozart said about Rubato, because you never use it.
Kell was a master at Rubato. Listen to his performance. Then listen to a
half dozen piano conceti played by Uchida, Levin, Perahia. Then listen to
Glenn Gould and decide if you like how he puts a stamp of individuality on
his Mozart work. Listen to Horowitz' only performance of a Mozart concderto.
It's on YOUTUBE. I'm not suggesting you copy these people. Just listen to
them. You can't learn very much by listening exclusively to yourself.

I'm not trying to put you down, only tell you what you must learn to do in
order achieve elegant, distinguished performances. Now, you are a good
player, but not an elegant one. Why do you rush over the two Eingange in
the first movment, almost as if you want to put them behind you as quickly
as possible? And that Eingang in the slow movement is one that every one
plays. I don't want to hear it any longer because it has been made dull by
over repetition. And if that were not enough, it is also used and resued in
the Quintet, K. 581. Are you not smart enought to make one up youself?

Go learn what an Eingang is and what purpose it seves. These things that
you must learn to do, vary from every performances. If you them twice, you
are not improvising. You are composing your own concerto.

You clould be a really fine clarinetist but you appear to be afraid of
flexing your muscles. Don't come back and ask me questions. It is hard to
write all this stuff and I'm not going to do it a second time. There some
hellaciously fine players and musicians in Australia. With whom have you
consulted?

Dan Leeson

----- Original Message -----
From: <kathleenwilliams76@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.com>
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 3:37 PM
Subject: [kl] Latest little project

> Learned friends
>
> For anyone interested, my latest personal challenge is recording works
> unedited, much like the two Weber Concertos I posted a few days ago. My
> latest, Mozart Concerto. Rather proud of my little effort, you might
> notice that my expression is helped somewhat with the greater freedom of
> movement that comes from standing up.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry2MPKPHcAk
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Klarinet mailing list
> Klarinet@-----.com
> To do darn near anything to your subscription, go to:
> http://klarinet-list.serve-music.com

_______________________________________________
Klarinet mailing list
Klarinet@-----.com
To do darn near anything to your subscription, go to:
http://klarinet-list.serve-music.com