 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: zhangray4
Date: 2017-10-22 20:38
Last night I listened to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, my first ever concert. The concert was amazing; I will definitely go to more concerts in the future!
Steve Williamson was the soloist for the Mozart Concerto. His tone was AMAZING! His sound was warm and round, and I could hear it very well sitting in the last row of the balcony. He did make a few mistakes, but it didn't really bother me that much.
What baffled me was that he changed his reeds in the middle of his performance. He did this twice, both during long rests. One was in the first movement somewhere, and one was after the opening phrase of the second movement. I wasn't expecting that, and I guess so weren't many of the people listening that evening, as whispers began to spread while he was switching reeds. Is this a normal thing to do? Does anyone know why he would do that? To me, it would seem very risky, since the reeds could sound drastically different, feel different, etc.
-- Ray Zhang
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2017-10-22 23:29
Not a normal thing to do unless needed!
There are players who have reeds designated for specific works "Strauss Reed", Brahms Reed, etc
But usually it's one reed for the entire work. Maybe he wasn't digging the reed and knew his backup would be better suited.
Doubt it was planned, but no way to know unless he writes about it.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-23 08:47
Not normal at all to switch reeds, but I know why he did.
Let's look at the weather we are having. The humidity levels are only at 10 percent, even by the ocean, because of the Santa Ana winds are blowing out to sea, if the ocean air was blowing into the town of Santa Barbara the humidity would jump to 60 percent. A stinky day for reeds. I live 45 minutes from the town and it was close to 100 degrees today. Dry heat. Yuk. The worst conditions for reeds. Even the horns play differently. He plays on Selmers. Anyway, 2 days ago the humidity was much higher and it was 75 degrees out. So when this Santa Ana wind condition pops in reeds just die instantly. Your saving grace is using older reeds that have been broken in for about a month. I think poor Steve got stuck in this unexpected climate change. He surely isn't the first. Another option is having your reeds in water for about 10 minutes, but they can't be new reeds. They have to be about 2 weeks old or so and well played on. Seems like he had everything under control by switching reeds around. It can be frustrating to do this on stage performing such a wicked hard and demanding piece. It's 30 minutes of stress with difficult reeds and the second movement is so hard. You need a really great reed for the second movement.
A really nice man. Yes he has a wonderful sound. Glad you got to hear one of the very best players in the country. I love the town and would like to retire there. It's full of artists. In the summer months you have the Academy of the West for the top college players.
I'm glad you went! John Yeh's parents live in Los Angeles and I bet they were at the concert too! I think they are both doctors. A happy reunion for John.
Nice post!
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2017-10-23 08:50)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: zhangray4
Date: 2017-10-24 03:51
Thanks for the replies! Yeah I live an hour away from the theatre and yeah the Santa Ana winds are horrible. Dry and hot, feels like it could rip your skin off haha. That's a possible explanation of why Steve Williamson might have switched reeds twice, but there's no way I will ever do that. The most I would do is to change reeds during intermission, since I think it's way too risky. But that just shows how good Steve Williamson really is.
It was great learning how reeds respond differently in these conditions. It's something we southern Californians have to deal with!
-- Ray Zhang
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: gwie
Date: 2017-10-24 09:11
Same situation when they were here in Orange County on October 16th. He had to do some extra swabbing and a reed change as well. There *might* have been a gurgle in the second movement of the Mozart due to condensation.
As far as I'm concerned, the artists have to do whatever is necessary to deliver their interpretation, including what may seem to be excessive care and feeding of their instruments. If I had to stand on a stage in front of 2000+ people I'd probably be over-prepared and have a dozen backup plans for every conceivable issue as well. In the end, the music-making of the soloist and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was breathtakingly beautiful, and that's what matters to me.
Also, a huge shout out to John Yeh and Greg Smith...they played an absolutely gorgeous Schubert Unfinished, one that convinces you that the clarinet is the reason that the first movement exists.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-25 06:10
Who is the other player in the symphony? They have 4 clarinetists. I know 3 of them, but not the 4th.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: zhangray4
Date: 2017-10-25 08:57
It's Steve Williamson, John Yeh (also Eb), Gregory Smith, and J. Lawrie Bloom (also Bass clarinet)
-- Ray Zhang
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: zhangray4
Date: 2017-10-25 09:07
Also I was sitting in the last row of the balcony so I couldn't see well, but can someone confirm if they were using rotary trumpets for the Schubert and Schumann?
-- Ray Zhang
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-25 09:10
Thanks, forgot about Bloom.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nellsonic
Date: 2017-10-25 09:31
zhangray4 wrote:
"Also I was sitting in the last row of the balcony so I couldn't see well, but can someone confirm if they were using rotary trumpets for the Schubert and Schumann?"
I couldn't see if that was the case when they played in San Diego, but they were using rotary instruments on the all Brahms program in LA on Sunday night.
Mr. Williamson didn't change reeds during the Mozart in San Diego, but he did often pull out a piece of cigarette paper to dry his pads. One of my students thought he was messing with reeds as a guess since she was sitting far in back and didn't know what he was actually up to.
Since you live in Santa Barbara and have caught the concert bug, may I recommend the Camerata Pacifica concerts? Jose Franch-Ballester is often featured on them and is truly a world class clarinetist. Ample evidence of this can be found on Youtube.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nellsonic
Date: 2017-10-25 09:44
Seebreeze wrote:
"J. Lawrie Bloom, bass clarinet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxR7L954VZU"
What an inspiring video! Having seen both programs being presented, I don't think he was on this tour.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
