 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: terry
Date: 2003-04-09 16:21
Monday, 7 May 2003, Richard Stoltzman and his good friend
Emmanual Ax gave a concert at Princeton's McCarter Theatre.
Mr. Stoltzman announced that the first piece after the inter-
mission, Yehudi Wyner's "Commedia" was a world premier
(more below). He and Mr. Ax clearly enjoyed the piece,
and largely kept the audience at the edges of their seats.
The next piece, a Brahms, (sorry, doing this from memory)
pushed close to the style and polish that owners of Mr.
Stoltzman's CD are accustomed to.
I skipped the before-intermission. The Schumann Fantasy
(Shirmer edition - A clarinet) was fine but lacked the polish
I had expected. All the pieces before intermission seemed
cold, and strained. I counted at least 4 squeaks. (All other
pieces were on Bb clarinet.) This contrasted with Sabine
Meyer last winter at Carnegie Hall without any squeaks
and definitely polished.
one note for the purists...Richard Stoltzman definitely is
not afraid of vibrato. He used it well for effect.
disclaimer: above the comments of an enthusiastic
dillitant. see below for a professional view.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
New Jersey Star Ledger
One good reed deserves another
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
BY FREDERICK KAIMANN
FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
To say the eminent clarinetist Richard Stoltzman is a modern-day Richard Mühlfeld begs at least one question: Who was Richard Mühlfeld?
Easy. Mühlfeld was a late-19th-century German clarinetist who was really, really good. How good? So good that he brought the greatest living composer out of retirement. No less that Johannes Brahms, who had told his publisher that he was done writing, heard Mühlfeld play, and put pen to paper to work out the inspiration.
The results, two clarinet sonatas from the very end of Brahms' life, were first performed on Nov. 13, 1894 at the home of Brahms' friend and confidante, Clara Schumann. Also at the house concert was a piece by Schumann's long-deceased husband, Robert: Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (Op. 73), written 45 years earlier.
Stoltzman, Omaha's answer to Mühlfeld, reprised that exact program at Princeton's McCarter Theatre on Monday with pianist Emanuel Ax. Like Mühlfeld, Stoltzman has been an inspiration to composers, also playing two pieces written just for him, one a world premiere. And Ax is a consummate chamber musician (cellist Yo-Yo Ma's go-to guy for duets), and a great recitalist.
So fresh was Yehudi Wyner's "Commedia" score that yellow Post-It notes still stuck to the back. Written to mark Stoltzman's 60th birthday, the piece was no fanfare of celebration, but a wide-ranging emotional journey.
After a fast and dissonant opening, "Commedia" settled into a relaxed passage of fits and starts with Stoltzman preceding Ax up and down arpeggiated tunes. Although not quite up to the tempo marked LABOOH on the page (the program notes presumed that to mean "Like a Bat Out of Hell"), the music didn't tarry either. Ax's part required precision in fleeting passages, never waiting nor meshing with Stoltzman.
Later, the music slowed and created empty spaces, the notes adrift in silences. The effect was fundamentally expressive and lyrical. But Wyner's piece regains the intensity, even without the speed, although as the end approaches -- unexpectedly it would turn out -- the writing thins and meanders. When the work ended, it came without an obvious conclusion, no finality to a musical arc.
A sonata excerpt by Wyner's former student, William Thomas McKinley, broke up the first half -- a complex, sentimental short that raised interest for the other movements of the work.
The house concert music went as you'd expect from mature artists playing from the cornerstones of the repertoire.
The clarinet is a temperamental instrument, and Stoltzman's sound suffered early, the upper register peeling away in a thin, grating tone during the Schumann. Subsequently he found a more focused, broad sound that was husky deep and happy high.
Ax's piano part was no cakewalk, usually leading the clarinet's melodies then rushing off with intricate accompaniment.
Lesser musicians wade through the earlier movements of the Brahms sonatas to get to the melodic heights, such as the glowing melodies in the third movement of the Sonata in E-flat Major (Op. 120, No. 2). But Stoltzman and Ax did just the opposite, working hard through the lead-up and coasting over the climax, enjoying the lyrical pinnacle of the piece.
The music was played seamlessly and delightfully; all the expression and beauty were there. From the seats in front of Stoltzman and Ax, there was no more thinking, just listening. Fully absorbed and captivated.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-04-09 23:46
My turn to hear him tomorrow eve in Madison, WI. ($30.00 ticket). More on the great Stoltzman 2003 tour report Fri AM.
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Author: Mike Blinn
Date: 2003-04-11 03:24
I'll be hearing them this sunday in Hartford. I'll post my thoughts on their performance later.
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