 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2003-05-03 18:03
Joaquin Valdepeñas performed the Corigliano Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa in Jalapa, Mexico on May 2. He also gave a master class for students of the Universidad Veracruzana.
During the class he concentrated on improving the student's sound by making adjustments to the embouchure. In general, he recommended that the students use less lip over the lower teeth, place the upper teeth closer to the tip of the mouthpiece, and use the vowel sound eeee when playing.
JV has an amazing embouchure. When he plays you can see his face muscles firming all the way up to his ears and and between his sideburns and his eyes. It looks like he uses his entire head to focus the air down to the mouthpiece.
He said that he is using Vandoren reeds, a mouthpiece that he made himself from a Zinner blank, a prototype of a new clarinet that Yamaha is designing in conjunction with JV, and an experimental bell. He didn't mention his ligature but it appeared to be a simple metal ligature with the screws in front.
Most would consider his sound to be on the bright side but he never sounded strident. The sound was rich, full of color, very resonant, and maintained these qualities from the lowest note to the highest and in all dynamic ranges. I was particularly impressed by his throat tones. They sounded as beautiful as any other note on the horn.
The performance was very exciting. Above and beyond his total technical mastery of the Concerto was the mastery of the musical aspects of the piece. In the second movement his sound blended perfectly with the strings. He used a very nice, tasteful vibrato to good effect. In the outer movements he moved his clarinet and danced around a little but it was all very tasteful and added to rather than detracted from the music.
He received a number of curtain calls but had to decline the audience's request for an encore, explaining that he wasn't really up to it after such an intense performance.
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Author: Anon
Date: 2003-05-03 20:43
Joaquin is an amazing artist and a super teacher - I had the good fortune to study with him for a few summers and I learned so much. His enthusiasm for music is inspiring!
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