Klarinet Archive - Posting 000415.txt from 1997/12

From: Kenneth M Caputo <kcaputo1@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: Slander, etc
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 09:09:55 -0500

I would like to try to put my 2 cents in on this matter. In todays
orchestra it is very rare to see a Basset clarinety being used in a
regular manner.. I have heard and played the aria in question. Each
time I played it on the Soprano Bb clar. I would like to point out that
other clarinet players have also played the basset part on regular b
flat. when I heartd this aria performed by the Montreal Symphony,
Cecilia Bartolli sang while the The clarinetist played on the Regular b-
flat.....how come we are soooooooo bent out of shap with this one
aria.......????........ Why do we still play the concerto (K622) in
regular A?????>>>>>> I have not heard anyone get all bent out of shape
that all the great recordings by Leister, Gigliotti and Marcellus(sp)
played the concerto on the regular A and not Basset. If you want to hear
the Basset in action find a recording by Hogwood. It is not Morales'
fault about what notes he played. The fault goes to a man with the last
name of Andre. He published many of Mozart's works, when he did so the
basset clarinet was not avalible.
ken
On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu
wrote:

> > From: MX%"klarinet@-----.35
> > Subj: Slander, etc
>
> > Gee Dan,
> >
> > First you chastise someone for attacking poor, defenseless Gervaise de Peyer,
> > then you write THIS? Hmm. . .
>
> If you cannot see the difference between the attacks on de Payer's playing
> ability including sound, general musicianship, etc. and this highly
> complimentary criticism of Morales' playing, then you are having
> trouble dealing with grammar, syntax, and meaning.
>
> I could not have been more complimentary to Morales. I could not have
> been more appreciative of his playing. But I also mentioned a specific,
> non-arguable element of what he played as being wrong. I said nothing
> negative about how he played. I dealt only with an issue that cannot
> be contradicted; i.e., Mozart calls for one set of notes, Morales played
> another. Now it is true that someone suggested that this was not as
> important as I believe it to be, but no one contradicted my facts. I
> think it important. Others don't. That's not criticizing his playing.
> Don't you see the difference or are you just being deliberately obtuse?
>
> You really insult my intelligence by suggesting that the vitriolic attacks
> on de Payer are indistinguishable from my remarks on Morales' failure to
> recognize the original text of the aria as Mozart wrote it. Worse, you
> show yourself to be unable to distinguish between criticism of how a
> person plays from what a person plays.
>
>
> >
> > Date: Sat, 06 Dec 1997 11:51:47 EST
> > From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
> > Subject: Today's Titus on the Met Broadcast
> >
> > I admit that I stood in absolute awe of Morales' control and intelligence
> > in the performing of the great Parto aria which employs an obliggato
> > clarinet to such a stunning effect. It finished not 10 minutes ago.
> >
> > But the bottom line is that, despite the 1000 positive things one can
> > say about the performance, the fact remains that he played it on the
> > wrong clarinet! The part is written for a basset clarinet in B-flat
> > and it was performed on a standard clarinet in B-flat.
> >
> > There are four reasons why he might have done this:
> >
> > 1) The conductor insisted on a performance played on
> > traditional clarinet;
> >
> > 2) Morales was unable to find a basset clarinet that
> > had the required professional characteristics and thus
> > was compelled to ignore the explicit performance
> > instructions;
> >
> > 3) Morales would have like to played in on the proper
> > instrument but does not own one and decided not to
> > incur the expense of one for such a rare occasion;
> >
> > 4) Morales does not know for what instrument the work
> > is scored.
> >
> > I am sympathetic to the first two, very much less sympathetic to
> > the third but consider the fourth the most likely.
> >
> > Morales is such an incredible talent and such a magnificent player
> > that I believe he left college before completing his course of study.
> > I am told that he began to play professionally at about the age of
> > 20, a testament to his extraordinary technical facility. As such,
> > it is unlikely that he had little opportunity to get to know things
> > associated with music outside of playing. Bottom line is that I
> > suspect that he never found out about the clarinet revolution
> > currently in progress with the availability of contemporary
> > basset clarinets and thus does not know that the part that he played
> > on the radio is rife with wrong notes, "wrong" in the sense that they
> > are not what Mozart wrote, they are occasionally an octave too high,
> > and the balance of the aria is upset to some degree every time such
> > an event occurs, and thus the entire aria is thrown out of kilter.
> >
> > It distresses me to think that he does know about the basset clarinet
> > but does not consider it a very important thing. So I won't credit
> > the problem to this phenomenon.
> >
> > Over the last week or two, the subject of "what the composer intended"
> > has come up on this list a dozen times. Well, here we have a very
> > practical case. What the composer intended was NOT played, and instead
> > a modified version created ca. 1800 to fit a clarinet of reduced
> > range was substituted. And neither the composer nor the aria were
> > well served by this activity.
> >
> > Can Morales play well? He's breathtaking. Does he play intelligently?
> > He is a joy to hear. Is he aware of the relationship between performance
> > practice and proper execution of music from this era? I think not.
> >
> > And it makes no difference if no one in the world including Morales knows
> > what he did. It is our duty to find out about these things and to do
> > them, not for ourselves, but for the music. That is what constitutes
> > the highest level of professionalism.
> >
> > =======================================
> > Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > leeson@-----.edu
> > =======================================
> =======================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> leeson@-----.edu
> =======================================
>