 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-06 16:51
The clarinet prodigy Alia is now 18. She studied with Ricardo M. for about 8 years. She performs some full length pieces on her web site.
Ricardo praises her a good deal...I'd be interested in what some of you all think of her playing.
http://www.aliasabur.com/music/index.html
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2008-06-06 19:05
Her academic achievements combined with her musical ones are unequaled. However, her musical skills alone, from what I heard on her site, don't quite compare to someone like Julian Bliss, after all, she is still only human
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2008-06-07 00:27
When I heard a fragment of the Weber Concertino on some late-night show a few years ago (she was 14 I think?) it sounded like a very good 14-year-old. What I've heard from Julian sounds much better to me.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-06-07 03:12
It looks like from the recordings on her website that she made a huge progress between 2004 and 2005 or the recording of the Saint Saëns is bad.
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-06-07 04:47
Yet another negative implication from the virtuoso from Iceland (sorry I just couldn't resist this time).
However, this is more positive than some of the previous contributions.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: RodRubber
Date: 2008-06-07 05:59
Im still waiting for the mp3 from mr stefan thor, i bet ill be waiting a minute.
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Author: kev182
Date: 2008-06-07 07:31
After hearing some recordings on her webpage, I feel her talents would be better spent in the sciences. There is no shortage of clarinetists in this world...
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2008-06-07 07:38
I have to agree with Iceland here, the difference between 2004 and 2005 was amazing!
How exactly did she get all those gigs pre-2005 then?
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Author: atasic
Date: 2008-06-07 12:33
...I also heard her recordings....in my opinion she is trying to imitate R.Morales in every aspect of her playing.......and thats it!!!!! I think she is a good player but for sure not a genius player....maybe when she realize that she is not Morales and find her own way of musicality, she will be great!
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-07 15:56
It's not likely her playing is going to improve much...she's too busy beating her own drum, along with her agent and publist. She has appeared on every TV news mag and talk show known to man! A deal was made of her going down to Southern University to help them out after Katrina. She was there just a few weeks and then took off for Korea where the school made her a full professor immediately in order that she might make the Guinness record book as the youngest ever.
Her job in the Korean school is "research liason with the west." Her faculty advisor for her doctorate in America was a fellow Iranian who also was her piano accompanist. Is she a whiz or what! There's more but mercy....
Clarinet Redux
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-06-07 19:41
she's 19 and has a phd? holy bejeebus.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-06-07 23:09
Christopher Nichols how on earth can you say that my comment was negative?????? I was complimenting her for great progress
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Author: S. Friedland
Date: 2008-06-08 14:21
Hard to find amongst the verbiage, however just listening to her miss the andante legato motion from throat A to clarion C in the Saint-Saens dismissed all of the incredibly long bio.
Sherman Friedland
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-06-08 16:16
Iceland Clarinet:
In paying a compliment to someone, I would've left off this part of your sentence:
"...or the recording of the Saint Saëns is bad."
That's why I used the words "negative implication," instead of merely saying your comment was negative.
Just a clarification.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-06-08 17:01
Hey I meant that maybe the Saint Saëns recording was of that bad quality that it didn't bring to me how her tone really was at that time.
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Author: S. Friedland
Date: 2008-06-08 17:55
It is bad, both the recording and the playing. It is out of tune, specifically the neginning is flat, the Bbs are always sharp. This is a "super" prodigy? Wrong on both counts. I listened to another one of the "concert recordings" and found it at best, labored.
To whomever posted it, I am sorry, but let us post what is really excellent, or at least in tune. The very first thing is intonation. Oh, and the sound is almost hateful. Yes, One feels that an unkind person is playing.
Korea? Good.
Sherman Friedland
Post Edited (2008-06-08 18:09)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-06-08 20:21
Let's get real here:
First of all she isn't Iranian, nor is her accompanist, nor advisor.
She doesn't have an agent or a publicist, though maybe some day I'll do that for the musical end of it - who knows? Maybe I'll release her album when and if she does one......
Alia spent one complete semester (19 weeks) at Southern University
New Orleans teaching four different courses... College Algebra,
Precalculus, Physics 1 and Physics 2.
And the recording of the Saint-Saens was from when Alia was 13.
She leaves for Seoul next Sunday.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: rgames
Date: 2008-06-08 22:29
Certainly an outstanding talent, but I'm surprised she was able to get an assitant professorship with that resume. Maybe her online resume doesn't list all of her publications?
rgames
____________________________
Richard G. Ames
Composer - Arranger - Producer
www.rgamesmusic.com
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-09 17:08
Maybe she went to the Korean U. (accredited in the US?) because it was the only one that would accept her in time, (one day before her birthday) to make the Guiness book of records as the youngest prof. in history. Her clarinet playing is superficial flash as are all of her vaunted accomplishments. She claims her IQ is off the charts...so is her presumption and sense of self importance!
Clarinet Redux
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-06-09 17:29
seriously what the heck is going on here? why are you criticizing someone you've never met, will probably never meet in person, and judging her whole performing career based on recordings found off the internet?
At 18, would you have been able to play at her level? if so, then good for you. But for others who see that she has accomplished so much in such a little time, she is an inspiration. Nobody's perfect and there are probably better performers out there at that age. So if your going to cap on her, why don't you submit your recordings of when you were performing at 18? i'd love to see how well in tune you were etc. etc.
seriously.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-06-09 17:59
Alia's talents will most likely be used to make the world a better place to live in.
She probably won't be taking auditions and sitting in a playing job, nor probably teaching Univ. forever, she will most likely be sitting in a lab working on big picture things - for us all.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
Post Edited (2008-06-09 18:00)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2008-06-10 00:34
The first pass, I only listened to Ms. Sabur's posted recordings and ignored the rest. I wrongly assumed she was supposed to be a musical prodigy and rising musical star. In that context, the recordings are a disappointment (and one does not need to be able to play perfectly in tune in order to detect out-of-tune playing.)
After revisiting the site and reading the rest, I'm much more impressed, but in an off-topic way. David's right - this lady is likely to do some great things, and it's a pleasure to see someone working hard to develop and use such gifts as hers. She has my full respect. But it's mostly off-topic here.
To my ears, her clarinet playing is very good for a non-professional. However, it doesn't flabbergast me like that of certain young (and not young) specialists in the instrument, many posts of whom have been pointed out in this forum recently.
Again, I point out that listening and commenting on what one hears need not require expert playing skills in oneself to be valid.
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Author: rgames
Date: 2008-06-10 01:08
And the whole point of your thread was to slam her .........?
Nice, really nice. Does that make you somehow feel better?
David Blumberg
http://www.mytempo.com
Concert Artist - Clinician Rico Reserve Reeds / Producer
************
Not certain if that was to me, but no, I had no intention of slamming anybody. I was simply stating the fact that the info we have of her academic credentials does not warrant an assistant professorship and there must be more to the story. Futhermore, the classes she taught are normally taught by seniors or graduate students, not assistant professors.
There are just some odd tidbits in there...
rgames
____________________________
Richard G. Ames
Composer - Arranger - Producer
www.rgamesmusic.com
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Author: allencole
Date: 2008-06-11 04:20
This sounds essentially like a Kenny G. thread to me. (or maybe a Stoltzman thread)
This young lady is unquestionably competent for her age, and her playing--while being a sideline to her main pursuits--is clearly a passion which she doesn't neglect. She may or may not carry it to greater heights.
Two factors are at work here that show up in most such discussion. First, her other achievements have made her one of the most famous clarinetists in the US. (anybody remember Woody Allen?) And yes, there's some hype going on and she's getting exposure as a player that isn't really based on her playing.
But if you saw Bill Clinton playing "Heartbreak Hotel" on Arsenio (or heard his well-named album, "The Prez Blows") I think you'd find her playing infinitely more preferable to Bill or Woody.
The second factor is that many of us know others who are more deserving of attention as clarinet players, and this always creates resentment if not outright jealousy. (our shortcoming, not hers) This kid, so far as I know, isn't comparing herself to any of our icons and I don't feel like she's putting on airs. She's simply demonstrating a pastime of hers at which she is very accomplished.
Perhaps the acrimony here comes from the thread title of "Super Clarinet Prodigy." To me, Alia is a super prodigy who happens to play some good clarinet. Same with Kenny G. Call it jazz and volcanoes start erupting. Call it instrumental pop music and you'd probably get no argument.
I definitely don't see the harm in having our instrument endorsed by a pretty little girl with a big sweet smile, whose life has been filled with hard-earned success and accomplishment--and who is bursting with passion for our instrument. I know she's not Robert Marcellus, but I invite her to replace Woody Allen as the instrument's representative in pop culture.
Allen Cole
Post Edited (2008-06-11 20:46)
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