The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2018-05-16 06:52
YouTube has several performances by the Spanish clarinetist Carlos Casanova playing on one of his three restored original instruments made by Oscar Oehler in 1910. Casanova is a student and associate of Wolfgang Meyer but, judging by the almost complete absence of his name from this list, he appears to be little known in America. A technically and musically outstanding performer, he deserves to be heard. This link pulls up references that are easily followed. To my ears, the old Oscar Oehler instrument sounds every bit as good as those made by Wurlitzer, Leitner and Krauss, S & S and other leading makers of Oehler instruments today. Deep, well focused, vibrant, and clear.
I would venture to say that Boehm clarinet players trying to sound more "Germanic" might set Casanova as a model to copy rather than going for the darkest, most covered sound imaginable.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=carlos+casanova+clarinet-Rigoletto+Fantasy
Post Edited (2018-05-16 09:56)
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Author: donald
Date: 2018-05-16 08:52
Oskar Oehler was a genius- his clarinets are masterpieces (and each one is different- no mass production!). My wife is recording the Brahms sonatas later in the year using an Oskar Oehler clarinet from the 1890s. If she's practising when I arrive home I can hear her playing from around the back of our building, but then I come into the flat and she's only playing mp- the sound just travels, it's so resonant.
We have an OO bass clarinet (he only made a few), and despite being quite small compared to a modern bass it sounds twice as loud, it's really quite amazing- I'd use it all the time if it had a fully automatic register key (you have to swap thumb keys for anything above high A). Someone once described playing the German system bass clarinet to me as "like playing with a sock stuffed up your clarinet", but this is NOTHING like that.
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