 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2007-03-13 10:05
Hi everyone,
I performed this piece (La Travatia adapted for clarinet by Lovreglio) last weekend in Singapore on a school trip there and discovered today that someone had posted the video on Youtube.
The sound/video quality is quite bad, but what do you think about my playing? Any and all comments are welcome.
The video is at http://youtube.com/watch?v=ROW-Rir6L6M
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-03-13 16:30
Just saw your Youtube video. It was a good performance presented in a professional manner.
Only one suggestion...you should probably stand nearer to the piano, you were at the end of the grand piano, about the middle seems better.
You certainly can't complain about your reception, the audience gave you a thunderous standing ovation!
Good luck!
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2007-03-13 22:08
On the whole a nice job, a few things do jump out at me as being areas to work on, both generally and for this work specifically.
Firstly...your open G, it stands out as being a duff note, and while that's understandable for those of us who play the instrument it's something that can be improved with some careful work. The addition of extra fingers and/or 'blowing through the note' to use an old cliche is most helpful, do a search on this perhaps, it yields some interesting results.
Secondly I'd like to hear some more variation between the different sections of the piece, each has it's own character, being based upon a different aria from the opera. The first after the introduction for example (Andate, piano dolcissimo) I feel can be darker, and 'sneakier' (doing the repeat gives you the opportunity to play with it further on the second time as well...) It just didn't sound different enough from the extrovert opening.
Lastly...and this may be an edition thing, but my favourite section was missing! It's definitely worth playing the 'dotted' section, yes, it's technically difficult and extremely tiring, but you seem to be able to get round everything else ok! The cut the pianist made was a little comic to me it seemed...
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-03-14 01:11
moose6589 -
You did lots of good things. You obviously learned the notes and have plenty of fast technique to bring them off. Also, you keep the melody in mind when playing the variations, so that it's audible among the fancy stuff. Do that even more.
Keeping in mind that the performance was good, there are still things you need to work on.
The initial entrance was really bumpy. The first impression sets up the audience's expectations for everything else. I'm sure you were nervous, but you really need to get your support in place and the air pressure up before entering. Then all you have to do is release the air with a tiny tongue movement and let the tone start.
There were a number of intonation problems. Listen through with the score, marking where you got (usually) sharp. Work on those spots, keeping the pitch under control.
A related problem is that your tone got out of control in many of the fast passages. Work on them slowly, keeping your embouchure steady and firm. Of course you need to play out, but you can do that while keeping a good tone. It's not on tracks, like a roller coaster. You drove the fast scales down and into the ground. Your technique has to flow in addition to being brilliant. Once you get going, back off a tiny bit and soar like a bird.
You have a problem on trills. I hear far too much of the upper note and not enough of the lower one. The lower note is the basis of a trill and has to predominate. A violinist does this naturally. The upper note sounds only when the left hand finger is down, and the lower note sounds the rest of the time, including when the finger is moving. On the piano, the notes are equal, and good pianists play the lower note louder and hold it a little longer. The clarinet is the opposite of the violin. The lower note sounds only when the finger is down, and the upper note sounds when the finger is up or moving. Therefore, you have to make your finger movement slightly uneven, holding the low note, so that it sounds for longer than the upper one.
You should listen to a recording of La Traviata, following along with the score and a translation. These are very familiar melodies, and it makes a big difference when you know how they're sung. Do your best to play like an opera singer, much more lyrical. Also, you ran many phrases together. You need to breathe like a singer.
You obviously learned the piece in the practice room and had only one or two rehearsals with the pianist. Every student has this problem. In the practice room, you supply the foundation and the energy. When you play with the pianist, it's the foundation, and you need to let it support and carry you. It helps to stand in the curve of the piano, rather than far out to the side as you did.
Finally, how you look makes a difference. Get your trouser legs shortened, so they don't bag at the bottom. Tune offstage. When you come on stage, walk out confidently, give a good bow, putting your head down so you look at your feet. Smile at the audience and the pianist and nod for him to start. At the end, give the same bow, have the pianist stand and you both bow, and then go off quickly. If you're lucky, the audience will call you back.
I think you have what it takes. Your main goals are to eliminate every bobble and to play so the audience feels the emotion in the music.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-03-14 01:19
Great review, Ken.
Thanks on behalf of the rest of us who benefited from your analysis.
Bob Phillips
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2007-03-14 10:54
Thanks for all the insightful and helpful comments on my playing as there were several points brought up that I had not thought about before. I am posting the video here precisely to get another look at my performance (as my friends and teachers in high school don't find much wrong with it and don't play the clarinet either).
If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a few questions to clarify some of points brought up.
First..good point about standing closer to the piano. I hadn't realized that I was standing too far away, but it is more natural to be closer.
About the open G..I already use resonance fingerings to improve the note, so it probably is an issue with air and support in the beginning. My reed wasn't sounding that great that day either..
Contrasts throughout the piece certainly can be improved to make it more dramatic and powerful, although this particular video does tend to make my playing sound more flat (dynamically) than usual.
As for the famous toasting song by Alfredo..I had to cut that part out because of an 8 minute time limit. I was going over the limit even without that part, so it had to go. However, it is probably one of my favorite sections too (great fun). The cut was unfortunate.
Now onto Ken's many great insights:
Now that I listen to the video again, I do not remember my opening G being that wobbly (I don't think I've ever played it that 'wavily'). Possibly a problem with the video, but I'm not sure. It's certainly not what I would consider normal (unfortunate if I did sound like that at the concert).
I do agree about the intonation issues throughout the piece, although I find that difficult to work on.
Tone is another good point; I have a feeling my mouth becomes too relaxed/loose when playing extended, exposed runs, leading to a deterioration in the tone. Keeping the embouchure firm should help a lot.
Good advice on the trills (I think I've read that on here before), and it's particularly evident in the series of extended trills right before the cut.
I have actually watched a video of La Traviata several times in an attempt to bring out the meaning behind the melodies, although I see I can do that even more.
However, could you explain more about running phrases together and breathing? I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean right there.
Also, do you have any suggestions on how to better rehearse with the pianist?
Again, thanks for all the useful suggestions as they really are very useful.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-03-15 02:39
moose6589 -
You asked for it, so here goes.
After you've got the notes learned, play only from the piano score. Let your fingers play your part while you watch what else is happening, particularly the bass line. This means using (uggh) music theory, so you recognize what goes on harmonically. What you play is only like your muscles and skin. The harmony is like your skeleton. It's the basis of the music and shapes everything you play.
Basically, you need to listen a lot harder to the piano. Your pianist is very good. Trust him, and play as if you were siamese twins.
Now for the specifics.
At 0:35 - 0:45, you have a descending scale with little descending decorations between the main scale notes. It's fine to bring the main notes out, but you also need to back off on the decorations. Also, the tone blares on the main notes. Roll your lower lip in and make an "ooo" vowel (as in "cool") to cover the sound.
At 0:46, the pattern changes at the end of the phrase, with an appoggiatura and a two note release. Don't drive through this. An appoggiatura is always emphasized, and you always come away to the resolution.
From 0:50 to 0:60, don't push on the high notes. They come out automatically, because they're high. If anything, play them softer and sweeter, particularly when you go into the altissimo.
At 0:50 - 0:51, you play through a phrase break. It should be almost as big a break as the prior one at 0:45.
You need to be much cleaner in the cadenza - under control first, and brilliant only second.
A new phrase begins at 1:30. You absolutely have to breathe, even if it's not physically necessary. The same at 1:48. As a listener, I'm suffocating for lack of breath. For the same reason, you need to round off the phrases so you can begin the new ones.
On the other hand, at 2:01, you need to keep the phrase going, even if middle B is not a good note. You've established a more relaxed mood, which is great, and your sound is sweeter, which is even better. Now you need to maintain support when you go down to the chalumeau.
Maintain the sweetness at 2:06, just as in the previous phrase. Why blast? You're an octave higher. Nobody will have trouble hearing you.
Breathe at 2:17. A phrase ends and a new, decorated version begins.
At 2:25 - 2:31, you have short phrases, but they're part of a single long phrase. Make the breaks shorter, and don't break the breath support or relax your embouchure. Keep the line going even while it's silent.
At 2:32 - 2:38, you must not break concentration or fiddle around. It's discourteous to the pianist and the audience. Equally important, the music is still going on, even though you're not playing, and you need to be part of it. Make it obvious that you're listening and involved.
In the variation section beginning at 2:40, you must make a much bigger distinction between the melodic notes and the decoration. Bring out the melodic notes. Make them maybe 25% longer than they should be. The rest are like a spider web spun delicately around the melody - nearly invisible. It's very important not to let the high notes pop out at the ends of arpeggios, particularly because they're not at the ends of phrases. Take extra care to play them softer than the other notes.
You need to take a lot more time in the cadenza from 4:10 - 4:27. You get through several hundred notes, but they're just notes. Every time you finish something, stop. Let the audience absorb what's come out at them through the fire hose. For example, in the expanding figures at 4:11 - 4:15, hold the low note for a really long time. Then play the up and down pattern softly. Once again, it's main note plus spider web. Decrescendo on the rising chromatic scale at 4:16. On the high C, hold it for extra time and make a messa di voce - a crescendo and decrescendo - before you ease into the fancy stuff. Every note where you come to a resting point - the F# at 4:20, the B and the D a few notes later - hold it out, and shape the other notes so they move naturally from one resting point to another.
At 4:40, again, respect the pianist. Keep the music going.
On the new melody, you go from 3/4 into 4/4. You need to make this clearer. Make a bigger secondary accent on the F# on beat 3 of your entrance, and a clear beat 1 accent on the D of the next bar.
At 5:12, pull well back on the spider web decoration. None of those notes are important, and all of them lead to the appoggiatura, from which you decrescendo down to the resolution.
The descending low register figure at 5:20 is not part of the upper register line. It's a second voice, in counterpoint. Make a noticeable separation where you switch from one voice to the other. The same thing happens, twice as fast, at 5:40. I need to hear solo and accompaniment.
In the cadenza, you have a descending line in the first notes of the figures. Point the line toward the lowest one. Stop there, hold it, and hold the first note of each figure. The melody is the low notes, and the rest are spider web. You play it as a blur of notes. Make music out of it.
The next melody is Sempre Libera, one of the most famous soprano arias in opera. Listen to how a singer performs it. She won't whack the trills, for one thing. They're decoration. Make them softer and shorter. And you absolutely must breathe at 6:45.
You need to be much more precise at 6:52. The fast notes must be exactly on the beat.
The pianist gives you a nice decelerando at the cadence at 7:00. Take advantage of it. It's traditional for the singer to do the two pickup notes to the next phrase out of tempo, and you should too.
It's not necessary to breath at 7:06 before the high note, buy you do have to make a phrasing break.
It doesn't work right around 7:28. It's because you're not shaping the phrases and are playing all the notes the same, regardless of whether they're melody or decoration. You're obviously a little tired by this time, but you need to let it swing more. Keep it beautiful. There's more than enough time to make it brilliant at the very end.
You've made a great start. Keep at it.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-03-15 03:52
Ken Shaw has given you a super useful critique...you also might want to study a few recorded versions of this engaging old warhorse.
Emma Johnson has recorded it on her CD "A Clarinet Celebration" and there are others...you can't hear too many versions!
Clarinet Redux
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Author: sockmonkey70
Date: 2007-03-15 04:35
AHHH the memories..We played La Traviata my senior year for festival..I loved it..I actually got to play a solo that made my clarinet absolutely sing...
Very Nice overall..Loved it. A few of the high octave notes seemed to blare out at me, but it may just be the sound quality of the video.
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