 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-02-25 21:09
The Szell/Cleveland "Russian Record" has at last been released on CD. It has Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien, Borodin's Polovetsian Dances, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol and Mussorgsky's Dawn on the Muskva River from Khovanshchina, each with big clarinet solos played by Robert Marcellus at the peak of his powers. I can still remember the first time I heard it, in a dorm room with a bunch of clarinetists, all with our mouths hanging open in amazement.
Go to http://home.comcast.net/~litvr/catalog_pp.html and then to Volume 29.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Leah
Date: 2004-02-25 21:52
yeah! i just got that cd, it is soo wonderful! i am so glad they released it!
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2004-02-25 22:53
Ken --
What is this site and who is producing these CDs?
Todd W.
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2004-02-25 23:19
GBK --
Thanks. I had tried "reducing" the original link, but went too far back.
Ken (or GBK, et al. -- anyone who has had experience with these recordings) --
A couple more questions, if I may.
Am I correct in assuming these recordings are in some way authorized by the orchestra and/or original recording producers?
How is the quality? Are these CDs mainly taken from an LP, or an LP master? (He does mention some are from reel-to-reel tapes.)
I would prefer not to pay by Paypal. It looks like the only alternative is using a credit card, but even then Paypal is involved. Any comments on that way of paying? (Mark C.? I believe you're not a fan of Paypal.)
Todd W.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2004-02-26 01:08
On the Russian stuff, it may be worth noting that it was made during a short time that Marcellus was playing a crystal mouthpiece. (O'Brien, I believe)
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-02-26 18:39
I always felt he sounded best on the O'brien....he tended to play everything so straight on the Kaspar...
David Dow
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-02-26 19:48
David -
According to the Locked in the Vault site, the Russian record was recorded in 1958. I first heard it when I went to Oberlin in 1961, so I'm pretty sure the date is right.
I have read (probably in The Clarinet) that Szell once asked Marcellus, "Do you *really* think you sound better on the crystal mouthpiece?" Marcellus took the hint and switched. As I recall, Marcellus repeated the story during a master class at the Clarinet Congress at Oberlin maybe 20 years ago.
I heard the Cleveland Orchestra live many times from 1961 through 1965. By that time, Marcellus was playing his Kaspar, and he sounded exactly the same as on the Russian record.
As to playing "straight," I don't think Szell left much room for expression, other than what he dictated. I saw Marcellus play the Mozart Concerto live at Severance Hall, and Szell conducted every note, including the little cadenza in the slow movement. IMHO, a freer player in that chair -- Stoltzman, say, or de Peyer -- would either have gotten perfectly in step or have left pretty quickly.
The solos and cadenzas on the Russian record are some of the biggest in the repertoire, so it's hard to compare them to briefer orchestral solos. Can you be more specific about what you hear during the O'Brien period, but miss later?
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-02-27 13:38
I personally find there is a bit more of a ring or brilliance on the tone that later become more Covered in quality with his Kaspars....I have a live Debussy La Mer from 58 and can honestly say his sound is more vibrant in some regards...although he does still play quite strict in terms of focus(etc.) I always liked his late 50s records alot more than the later playing in terms of tone...I wonder if its a 2 or a 1 O'Brein!???
David Dow
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-02-27 13:59
David -
I believe Marcellus played an O'Brien for only about a year. I heard a story, which I've never seen in writing, that his mouthpiece previous to the O'Brien was destroyed in a freakish way -- he left his instrument on his chair for a break, and a cracked window pane focused the sun on it and melted it.
Has anyone else heard this?
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: larryb
Date: 2004-02-27 19:46
Speaking of Marcellus (maybe this should be a new posting): I've heard that he and the Cleveland performed the Schubert Octet (orchestrated for the full orchestra). Does anyone know if this is available (or even true)?
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Author: msloss
Date: 2004-02-27 19:55
Let's not read too much into the apparent variation in Marcellus' sound from recording to recording, regardless of what equipment he played at the time. There is some amount of variability in the equipment and techniques used to record the orchestra from session to session, and the equipment itself was subject to variability in how it behaved (ahhh, tuuuuubes). A change in the height, distance or pattern of a microphone(s), the speed the tape was run at for recording or mastering, gain levels, or the condition of the electronics could overwhelm such playing nuances, particularly for someone as consistent as Mr. Marcellus. Unless the orchestra sounds exactly the same, we simply cannot say for sure he himself sounded any different.
On the other hand, Ken's direct experience hearing him in concert and comparing that sound to the record is much more reasonable. Having had the opportunity to hear his playing sitting 3 feet away myself, I can say the same essential sound was there tossing off a casual orchestral excerpt as can be found on any of his recordings. It was beautiful and rich and alive, and it sure wasn't crystal. It was all him. Something (different for each recording) was lost in the translation -- goes with the territory.
And by the way, for those of you thinking of investing in the Cleveland back catalog, consider investing the couple hundred dollars in an SACD player and buy the hi-res remasters. That is as close as you will ever get to the master tapes, and the engineers have been doing a wonderful job with them. The detail is revelatory if you are used to listening through the haze of bad transfers, LP noise, CD grit, and everything else that has been bad about the prior releases.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-02-27 21:12
larryb -
The Schubert Octet with orchestra definitely exists. I've heard an air-check of a broadcast. It was never issued commercially.
IMHO, it's not as effective as the original. It's Marcellus vs. the whole string section, and even the Cleveland strings under Szell couldn't make the sort of nuances that are possible one-on-a-part.
Still, it's RM playing.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-02-27 22:52
Numerous years ago I heard Marcellus play in Banff at a Materclass...my freind in Symphony Nova Scotia who studied with him also heard Marcellus mention he used an O'Brein breifly at various points in his career...
George Silfies in St. Louis sounds fantastic on his O'Brein and there is definitely alot of tonal characteristics the O'Brein pieces have in common with Kaspars...not all Kaspars that I have tried were as fantastic as some people thought...in fact I found they could be very different from one another within the same facing category....
One of my old private teachers had about 20 or so Kaspars and I was luckly enough to get two from him..I always thought the 13 worked better for me over the 11 facings...these two I have are Ann Arbor stamped.
However, they are pretty green and smell like burnt rubber.
David Dow
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