 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clockwiser
Date: 2007-03-05 19:05
There are two clarinetist that I think that have an superb tone, they are
Luis Rossi, and Karl Leister.
Their tone and playing are just gorgous.
What's others opinion and favourates?
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2007-03-05 19:08
Karl Leister in my opinion makes a beautiful sound all the time...the same beautiful sound all the time however.
Andrew Marriner is the man whose sound most makes me want to practise more...
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-03-05 20:27
Recently I like more and more and one of my favorites is the sound of Jacques Di Donato.
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Author: jmsa
Date: 2007-03-05 22:58
I attended another concert yesterday afternoon with special guest Mr. Ricardo Morales. This is the third time in the last two months that I saw him live and his tone, articulation, and technique are simply amazing.
jmsa
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2007-03-05 23:01
Amongst the living;
Ken Peplowski for all around facility
Jon Manassee for most beautiful in a chamber setting
Ricardo Morales for pure power in an orchestra
I keep coming back to Daniel Bonade and Reginald Kell, two Giants of opposing style, apon whose shoulders our great players now stand...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-03-05 23:54
I heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra (under Charles Munch) in a recording of Ravel's Bolero on the radio the other day - Gino Cioffi and the Eb player (another Italian chap as far as I remember reading on here) were fantastic in their solos.
I don't really care all that much for their oboists sound though - the d'amore solo was thin and weak sounding, but this was almost 50 years ago.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-03-06 00:18
Having heard David Shifrin live and on CD's, just beautiful, also on CD, DePeyer was great. Stolzman playing operatic arias almost brought tears via beautiful sounds! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: pabstboy
Date: 2007-03-06 00:25
Chris
That recording is still available on CD. The Eb Clar. was Pasquale Cardillo.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-03-06 01:14
Amongst active performers Emma Johnson has a fine characteristic clarinet tone, with at times a ravishing beautiful vibrato.
For some reason she inspires a lot of hostile, and to me, unfounded
criticism. She's doing a bit of conducting now and has an enormously
favorable reputation in England.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2007-03-06 06:49
My most favorite players are Walter Boeykens and Eddie Daniëls, they both have their own special ring in the sound that I love.
But I strongly believe that this all has to do with the sound that people hear in the early stage of learning the clarinet. In this stage we hear different sounds on the clarinet (teachers / CD’s / Live performers) and we make a concept of how the clarinet should sound.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2007-03-06 11:39
for classical jack brymer :p
for jazz eddie daniels :p
2E
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-03-06 12:26
I'll give Emma Johnson my vote too, along with a couple of the contemporary Turks and Macedonians. Although the traditional sought after sound such as Leister is much admired it can get monotonous.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Alexis
Date: 2007-03-06 12:46
I heard a recording of Montreal Symphony today playing Rossini's overture to Cinderella.
Whoever was playing on that had a massive sound...
Might be the same person on the complete Ravel recordings with Dutoit I remember being really impressed by that...
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Author: Paul Globus
Date: 2007-03-06 13:06
Until December 1997, when he died tragically of lung cancer at the age of 61, the principal clarinetist in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra was Emilio Iacurto.
Mr. Iacurto was a superb clarinet player, one of the most accomplished you could possibly imagine. He was a great virtuoso, with a full command and no discernible weaknesses. His sound was, well, not only big and warm but beautifully coloured. I have heard many players over the decades but never anyone who sounded like that. He could mesmerize you with that sound when he wanted to. He was absolutely unique.
The MSO recording of the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, which is still available I would think, features some marvelous playing by Emilio Iacurto. So does the orchestra's recording of Rossini overtures, as you've noted. Another favourite of mine is Pictures at an Exhibition, which also features a short prelude from Mussorgsky's opera, Khovanshchina. In that piece you'll hear what I consider some of the finest orchestral clarinet playing on record.
Incidentally, Emilio Iacurto was originally a double lip player who later switched to single lip. He could play both ways -- for him there was on difference.
Regards,
Paul Globus
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Author: Paul Globus
Date: 2007-03-06 13:15
By the way, Emilio Iacurto is featured on all the MSO recordings up until the time of his death. This includes all the Ravel recordings. The recordings after 1997 feature the current principal, Bob Crowley.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-03-06 14:06
I'm intrigued by Dieter Klocker's playing - does he play on modern Oehlers or reproduction clarinets?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2007-03-06 14:08)
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Author: sherman
Date: 2007-03-06 14:46
That recording of the BSO with Munch conducting has also Mother Goose, La Valse,Rapsodie Espagnole, Pavane (with James Stagliano) in addition to Bolero. The section was all Italian, save for Manual Vererio who had an even more beautiful sound than did Cioffi. He was Portuguese. Their duet in the cadenza in the Rapsodie is so fast and beautiful and dies away with more class than I have ever heard. Every time I listen I see colors when they make that exquisite diminuendo. That is kind of the best way to hear Cioffi, on the BSO recordings. That is why I am still looking for an air check of that Mozart he did back in the late 50s. He tried to sell me a set of those Model 55s he played and a crystal mouthpiece all the time I was studying with him. Now I am sorry I didn't go for it, just for the nostalgia.
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Author: Chris22311
Date: 2007-03-06 15:32
It sounds like some people may be naming off the wall players just to be creative?!
Chris
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2007-03-06 16:05
Alessandro Carbonare has not been mentioned, he is probably my favorite clarinetist today.
Tom Martin (assistant BSO) is in my opinion one of the most underrated players today. If you ever get a hold of Stanley Hasty's Bach chromatic fantasy CD (single piece sold along with the music), you will be mesmerized by the fluidity of his tone.
Having studied with him, I am also quite fund of Bob Crowley's sound. You should hear his Miraculous Mandarin and Rhapsody in blue with the MSO. He is also featured playing Ravel Intro and Allegro on a CD "Autour de la Harpe" in which it seems him and Tim Hutchins (the *best* orchestral flutist) play the same intstrument...
Past legends;
Harold Wright, Robert Marcellus.
A little further back:
Louis Cahuzac, Daniel Bonade, Ralph McLane.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: robertgh
Date: 2007-03-06 16:12
Heard David Shifrin in recital last fall play the Stravinsky set. On one long sustained note the tonal color shifted and changed subtly through a whole spectrum of sound—sheer magic!
Ricardo Morales—such sweet power! Stole the show in Philly's Beethoven 8th last spring. Like buttuh!
Gervase de Peyer—warmth, wit and drama. Proves that a little vibrato can lend life and energy to a phrase. His phrasing sings!
Eddie Daniels—it sounds sooo effortless—what a sense of line!
Finally, the un-named soloist on the Epic/CBS LC3411 recording of the Brahms 3rd with Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra (50s early 60s). That sound haunted my every practice as a young student living in the sticks and trying to refine my own sound.
I think Opus II's comment about early experiences shaping our concept of tone was often true for my generation. Today we can experience the work of hundreds of fine performers with distinctive sounds in distinctive settings (makes it tough to say there's only one definitive clarinet sound). It's a bit like living in a great cosmopolitan restaurant city with a rich array of cuisines to explore! As always, this board and postings such as this thread provide a wealth of references to exciting listening experiences.
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Author: energia eolica
Date: 2007-03-06 17:15
Sylvain, thank you for mentioning Alessandro and Tom Martin. I don't know Tom Martin's playing very well, but I've heard him once live and once on the Stanley Hastey arrangement of Bach Chromatic Fantasy CD. For sheer tone quality, he sounds incredible, almost perfect in my book.
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Author: Sarah Elbaz
Date: 2007-03-06 18:02
A clarinetist who had a real super tone and belived that the tone is almost everything was Yona Ettlinger.
Sarah
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Author: hartt
Date: 2007-03-06 18:14
Sarah............
As I was reading down the posts, I had noticed Yona's name wasn't appearing so I thought I'd include it .................then I read your post...the last.
Yes, Yona has the tone. technique, expression, musicanship.........as does his student..........Eli Eban
I have CD's of both these players and I may wear them out.
Eli's recordings were played on an R13. He now plays on Rossi.
As a clarinetist friend described their sounds.............like Lady Godiva chocolate; dark and creamy but not too dark
dennis
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2007-03-06 18:23
Some of my favorites of today are:
Steve Barta
Bob Crowley
Burt Hara
Greg Smith
Mark Nuccio
From the past:
Harold Wright
Robert Marcellus
Anthony Gigliotti (I don't think he recorded well, but in person, it was beautiful.)
That said, I think that clarinetists are sometimes too focused on tone, and not enough on musicality.
Chris Hill
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Author: Rivers
Date: 2007-03-06 20:02
Let me second the nomination of Steve Barta (Baltimore Symphony) I love to hear him warmup before a concert...very rich and wonderful sound!!
I also love the sound of Paul Meyer
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2007-03-06 20:03
From the past: Robert Lindemann (Chicago Symphony umtil 1949)
??? Sokolove -- on a number of Soviet-era recordings -- Shostakovich "The Bolt" stands out in my memory. Both German system players, but with a "ring" to their sounds that none of the current Oehler-system players seem to equal (sorry, Sabine, but I do love your playing anyway!
More recent past: Wright and Marcellus of course; also Iggy Gennusa!
Current: I think Morales is in a class by himself!
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Author: robertgh
Date: 2007-03-06 20:55
<<That said, I think that clarinetists are sometimes too focused on tone, and not enough on musicality.>>
I'd agree, Chris. When I was posting above I couldn't really separate tone and musicality. It's that fusion that makes Morales so exciting. BTW, I've only heard Steve Barta on one occasion, but Rivers' impression summed it up nicely. I'd sure like to hear more of that sound. Thanks for the reminder!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-03-07 04:14
For myself, Andrew Marriner and Paquito D'Rivera. I'd be oh so happy if I came close to either's sound (not to mention technique).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2007-03-07 05:41
So clockwiser, in conclusion, every clarinetist we can think of has a superb tone.
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Author: RodRubber
Date: 2007-03-07 05:52
I agree with Chris Hill,
There was nothing as beautiful as Anthony Gigliotti's ppp that would ring all the way to the last row of the academy of music.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-03-07 06:26
I think that Alessandro Carbonare, Ricardo Morales and Martin Frost (being three of my favourite players) all have absolutely gorgeous tones in their own right. While I've never heard either of the first two in orchestra. I think that Bob Crowley is my favourite orchestral clarinetist right now. The repertoire at the OSM this year has been excellent so far (including Firebird 1945, Debussy Prelude they did twice, Tchaik 5 and Beethoven 6 I believe but I wasn't there for it unfortunately) and having heard them recently under Gergiev do Tchaik 6, I am completely in awe at his orchestral playing. To come this season still is Shosty 1, Brahms 3, Mendelssohn 3 and Daphnis. I'm very excited!
I see a lot of similarities in Mr. Hill's list especially with Crowley, Barta and Hara- since I've heard people say that each of them is one that sounds somewhat like the greats of the past, and all of his list seems more on the "brilliant" side of things. I couldn't agree more for orchestral playing.
I would also like to add Larry Combs, and I'm surprised no-one has mentioned him yet (unless I skimmed a bit too much!).
Bradley
Post Edited (2007-03-07 18:17)
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Author: Alexis
Date: 2007-03-07 11:56
Thanks Paul for the information about Emilio Iacurto.
I have always admired these recordings.
Such a big sound! I switched on the radio when his solos were playing and thought it was a concerto!
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Author: sherman
Date: 2007-03-07 14:03
My first teacher was talking about sound with me when I first started to play . We were talking specifically about Victor Polatcheck, Principal of the Boston Symphony. I asked him about the sound and he told me that I would not be able to stay in the same room with him, the sound was so stuffy and ugly.
Yet, this player, the same who authored those super-musical books, was the Principal of the Boston Symphony, which at the time, had no peers.
Point 1.
The Boston Symphony recording space is one that is still without peer, being Symphony Hall. The place of recording is quite important in judging the quality of tone.
Point 2.
Which is really more important than point 1.
It is the musicality of the tone which interests the listener most, at least this listener, never a question of depth or masculinty or some unnamed quality.
Point 3, really the same or another qualifier: Anything can be done in the recording studio with the final quality of tone and in fact, the music itself.
example: in the old recording of Tchaikovsky 4 by the Boston Orchestra, a short repeated clarinet solo was omitted on the final recording, and was never repaired. This was Gino Cioffi, mentioned earlier. (The days of pieces of tape hanging in the recording studio)
Musicality, the way that a phrase is uttered by a woodwind soloist can not be altered. It is either gorgeous, or correct or acceptable. I think we have all heard favorite tone-meisters have all of these kinds of days.
And yes, Larry Combs should always be included in the sound area.
In his early days in Chicago, he did imaginative things with the basic repertoire clarinet parts which I think, are still unapproachable.
Sherman Friedland
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Author: bahamutofskycon
Date: 2007-03-07 17:39
I'll second (or third) recordings of David Shifrin and Paul Meyer - two of my favorites.
Steve
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Author: bcl1dso
Date: 2007-03-07 18:31
Really Really suprised no one has mentioned Ted Oien of the DSO. Incredible sound!!!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-03-08 05:22
I completely agree with point 2 from Sherman. It is just as important to play with a sound to fit the music specifically. For example, a couple of years ago we had a visit from an incredible clarinetist which had a sound so beautiful I never heard this live before. He played a few pieces, and some were great, but one was very bad because he used the exact same sound which was imho wrong for this piece. I can think of a lot of similar examples, but also a lot of the opposite cases.
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Author: Paul Globus
Date: 2007-03-08 12:51
Interesting, isn't it, how everyone who plays the clarinet plays it differently from everyone else. Sometimes the difference is slight but often the difference is so great as to be discernible even by untrained listeners. Another interesting observation is how the language one speaks affects the sound that one makes.
Post Edited (2007-03-08 12:53)
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Author: jane84
Date: 2007-03-09 10:27
"Another interesting observation is how the language one speaks affects the sound that one makes."
Really? How? Interesting indeed!
-jane
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Author: clockwiser
Date: 2007-03-09 18:30
umm... does this mean if everyone speaks English, all clarinet sound would gradually become English sounding?
Interesting!
(corrected spelling)
Post Edited (2007-03-09 18:31)
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Author: donald
Date: 2007-03-10 06:13
you know
i really like the american/french ideal of sound (although it's of course very difficult to generalise about this, or describe it in words)
But one player who i think sounds fabulous will be unknown to most of you- Phillip Green, NZSO Co-Principal, has an incredible sound. The most brilliant thing about Phills tone is that it doesn't sound like any one "school" of clarinet playing. It just sounds like Phill- and everyone who has ever heard him, from Clarinet players to general public, thinks it is a great sound.
Phil currently plays on Buffet Tosca Clarinets with a German (Wurlitzer if i remember correctly) mouthpiece that in theory shouldn't work with his Clarinet.... but no matter what mouthpiece or Clarinet Phil plays he has always had fabulous intonation and tone.
i hope that you guys get to hear him play someday
donald
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Author: kenb
Date: 2007-03-10 09:51
I read somewhere that Dieter Klocker plays old Oehler system instruments, built by the man himself, Oskar Oehler.
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Author: saintmoritz
Date: 2007-03-11 02:43
Hi all, I'm new to this. I love Leister's sound and am surprised people think it boring or monotonous. His playing in the Brahms sonatas gives me chills. There are others with totally different sounds that I love, too, and many of them are already cited in this list. Thanks
Mike
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Author: kuteclar
Date: 2007-03-13 02:10
OK, I don't even have the patience to read all of the comments here yet, but just beware that trying to sound like your favorite performer does not always prove productive. I love Leister's sound, but I know he, as does Sabine Meyer, plays on German style clarinets. We, on the Boehm (Klose-Buffet) French instruments will never sound quite the same.
Everyone listed, I will hold my words on the Enlish style, sound incredible with different styles, times, and groups. I'm not sure, though, if I saw Burt Hara listed! I might be impartial to his master classes and character he adds to every piece, but do your best to get some recordings of him in you can't get to the MO. THe Minn Orchestra is doing the Beethoven Symphony series, and they are fantastic with Osmo! I also have an older recording of Burt playing Argento's Cappricio for Clarinet and Orch. His tone is pure and he plays with mood and character.
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