 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: energia eolica
Date: 2007-06-27 22:21
Check out this new sound clip on this new website by Richie Hawley:
http://www.richiehawley.com/
I think I remember someone mentioning him recently. The other sound clips are awesome, too. I couldn't link directly to it, but it's easy to find on the ListenSounds tab up above.
Enjoy!
Adam
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Author: GMac
Date: 2007-06-28 19:29
wow, this guy rocks! who is he???? and how come i have never heard of him before!
Graham
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Author: David Pozlyckie
Date: 2007-06-29 03:14
He is principal clarinet of Cincinnati Symphony. I go to his masterclasses at the Music Academy here in Santa Barbara..... I am in High School and always leave those masterclasses inspired to attempt a career in classical music as a clarinetist. I have several friends who are in the festival orchestra and they clue me in to when the clarinet masterclasses take place. If you live in Santa Barbara, they are open to the public-- very entertaining. happens usually every thursday, but there have been some at night.
Post Edited (2007-06-29 04:24)
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Author: flady lady
Date: 2007-06-29 04:08
wow, did any of you listen to nielsen 5??? that was some of the best clarinet playing i have ever heard. i have never heard of this piece before. did nielsen write a lot for the clarinet?
i am currently first seat in my high school band, does richie hawley have many students?
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Author: sherman
Date: 2007-06-29 21:56
He is a fine player, interesting and with an excellent legato, however within the solo in the Pines, his high C# is very thin, actually sticking out, a common fault of all Buffet clarinets, but rather unacceptable for the Pincipal in a first class orchestra.
Sherman Friedland
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2007-06-29 23:25
You know, Sherman, I think you might be onto something here. Richie Hawley would have sounded a lot better on that solo if he'd been playing a Ridenour Lyrique clarinet. That perfect design and hard rubber would have helped that solo a lot, I think.
Actually, come to think of it, can you imagine how INCREDIBLE he'd sound if he was playing Legere reeds??? If only he'd switch to them, his playing would be far more acceptable as a true principal player.
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Author: Mags1957
Date: 2007-06-30 00:25
J.J.
If you have a point to make, can you possibly make it without resorting to childish sarcasm? What was the point of your post exactly? Was it to make Sherman look stupid? Was it to disagree with his assesment of the C# of Buffet clarinets? Whatever your point was, you didn't make it. And if you were trying to make Sherman look stupid, it didn't work. If you were just trying to be funny, it didn't read that way to me. I read it as mean-spirited and dismissive.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-06-30 02:47
Mr. Hawley is one of the most exciting and interesting (and refreshing!) orchestral clarinetists I've ever heard. His Nielsen 5 legato has more control than I think I was even expecting from such a talented clarinetist, and I was completely enjoying every moment of it when I found his sound clips on his website recently. It's weird how this topic came up around the same time, but not surprising because Hawley is due more than a little praise. Bravo!
Bradley
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Author: cpark
Date: 2007-06-30 16:31
fantastic playing!
great website, it looks like it will be a great resource for clarinet players. I'm really looking forward to the emasterclass clips.
Chris
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Author: Fontalvo
Date: 2007-06-30 16:59
this is the first time i heard him play. his mozart is good. he is a very good player. now i can see why his students are having success.
rafael
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2007-06-30 21:42
Mags, I won't respond to whether or not I was being "mean-spirited," though images of you as child on the playground tugging at the teacher's shirt in a strained voice do come to mind. As far as being dismissive, absolutely!! I was 100% dismissive of Sherman. You are right.
Let's see... my point... well, actually, come to to think of it you laid it out very well. Such a vitrolic response to a point that I "didn't make" doesn't seem to add up. I should remind myself, though, that where there's a thread in which Sherman's attacked, you will be right there in tow to defend him. For whatever reasons, that is.
Now, to elaborate a litle on what I was saying, let's go back to Sherman's post. He goes through the formality of saying that he's a fine player and has an excellent legato. Very kind of him to say so. Yet, he continues to criticize the C#, which was almost certainly the point of his post. This leaves us with two questions: Does Sherman find the playing to be unacceptable for a major orchestra, or his choice of instrument? If it's Richie's playing that is an issue, and him being unable to overcome the fault of the instrument, well, I doubt I even need to say anything about. Let's face it, he's one of the better respected clarinetists today.
If its the INSTRUMENT that Sherman is criticizing, he'd better line up the many prinicpal players in this country and start taking them to task on their unacceptable playing. It would be funny, after all, to see him telling them how much their clairnets limit their abilities.
So, where does that leave us? I think anyone who has gone out of their way to support Ridenour Hard Rubber clarinets leaves themselves open to attacks if they choose to come on this forum and insult Buffets and their artists at the same time. I'm sure Sherman realizes this, and that's excellent. Thankfully, Mags, he has you to carry his banner and cry foul.
Post Edited (2007-07-03 23:54)
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Author: Aaron
Date: 2007-06-30 21:55
I think that Mr. Friedland is absolutely correct about the thin C# being unacceptable. J.J., ignoring this flaw isn't going to make it go away.
If you want to set your aims on anything lower than perfection, be my guest.
Probably won't take you that far though.
Aaron M
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Author: David Snow
Date: 2007-06-30 22:42
This is my first post but I have been poking around for quite sometime.
I also agree with Sherman that the C# is thin sounding in the Pines of Rome and I have also heard better recordings of the Nielsen including Neeme Jarvi with the Gothenburg Symphony and Herbert Blomstedt with San Francisco Symphony to name a few players who solos I admire more.
I don't know if anyone else does, but I find it strange that a principal player of a first class orchestra has a web site promoting himself. It seems quite egocentric to me. I'm not sure why JJ is attacking Sherman because if Richie is going to put up a self promoting website and give samples to listen to then he must know that some of those samples are going to be discussed. I also found the Capriccio to be very lacking in virtuosity and excitement. The capriccio sounded very careful and conservative to me. It definitely didn't make me want to dance or picture anyone dancing. It just sounded careful and the tone color is the same in every excerpt given. Overall it is fine playing but nothing unworldly in my opinion.
Post Edited (2007-06-30 23:46)
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Author: Mags1957
Date: 2007-06-30 23:42
J.J.,
Your post was so childish and off-target, that once again, you made yourself look foolish instead of me. I will no longer respond to your comments on this thread. You're simply not worth it. Have a wonderful day.
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2007-07-01 01:33
For clarity, the reason I responded to Sherman was because of his choice to include in his criticism a comment about the instrument. By doing so, he is masking either a criticism of Richie, instrument nonewithstanding, or a blanket criticism of Buffet clarinets. A generalization like that is so absurd, particularly given the many ways to overcome any such faults, that it seems more likely that he sees that Richie plays Buffet and then chose to blame the playing on that. At the highest levels of playing, such concerns on most instruments are not real concerns. Therefore, it seemed like a weak and veiled effort to take a dig for whatever motivations. And I chose to respond. The post smacked of self-righteousness, no matter whether or not you feel I've done that same.
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Author: greenclarinet
Date: 2007-07-01 03:26
So here is some information for those of you who have been living under a rock:
Joaquin Valdepenas
http://www.joaquinvaldepenas.com/
Todd Levy
http://www.toddlevy.org/
Hakan Rosengren
http://www.hakanrosengren.com/
Jon Manasse
http://www.parkerartists.com/NewPages/manasse.html
Michael Webster
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~mwebster/
and here are some other principal musicians:
Eugene Izotov
http://www.oboesolo.com/
Paul Merklo
http://paulmerkelo.com/
Check it out. So egocentrism is regarding oneself as being the most important. I don't see anything on Richie's site that regards his playing as the "way" to play the clarinet. I understand the criticism, but I hope you understand that there is a lot excellent playing there. The next time you win an audition for principal clarinet in a first class orchestra and do a recording or concert let me know if you could play these excerpts even half as well.
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Author: David Snow
Date: 2007-07-01 04:26
Greenclarinet Wrote:
"The next time you win an audition for principal clarinet in a first class orchestra and do a recording or concert let me know if you could play these excerpts even half as well."
Just because Richie is a principal player in a first class orchestra does not mean that he is above reproach. If you will notice, in my original post, I said:
"Overall it is fine playing but nothing unworldly in my opinion."
The fact of the matter is, the playing is fine and at an obvious high level. My comments about the sound clips in question had nothing to do with his "playing"(besides the Pines of rome) but rather the music making which I found to be lacking in some respects which is why I said Fine playing but nothing unworldly.
It's a very weak argument to say that you can't play that well so you have no room to comment or your'e not in an orchestra so you don't have the right to comment. I've heard the excerpts in question on many different recordings and live performances and these just don't do much for me. If you are some type of lemming that will say anything a pro does is with out fault then I suggest you crawl out from under the rock you are under. Your list of 2 orchestral clarinet principals is hardly convincing. If anything your list only proves my comment that it is abnormal to see a principal clarinetist of a first class orchestra have a website. I'm talking about orchestral players not soloists.
I already gave two examples of Nielsen recordings that I find more musicaly stimulating.
As for the capriccio,
Marcellus with Szell
Drucker with Masur
Heck Combs' excerpt cd is more exciting
As for pines:
Burt Hara with Minnesota
Karl Leister with Berlin are both fine examples
Instead of saying your'e not a principal and you can't play this well, how about we keep it about the music. I've given different examples of the same pieces. Have you even heard various examples and can you discuss what you like or dislike about them?
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Author: ashemas
Date: 2007-07-01 04:50
Instead of opening up a whole new can of worms, why don't we just stop bashing people and arguing about who is right?
There are going to be some aspects of every person's playing, principal of a first-class orchestra or not, that some people won't like. It's all based on one's opinion. In my opinion, I feel that Richie's Capriccio is very lively and does accurately depict a Spanish dance. But I'm not going to go around belittling other professional players and saying that their interpretations are not as "exciting" or [insert positive adjective here] as Richie's.
Post Edited (2007-07-01 05:57)
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2007-07-01 11:13
I had my speakers up loud and the sound clip volume up loud also but it still wasn't all that loud to listen to. I am not sure what you guys heard but I didn't have any problem with the C# being thin(?) in the Pines. The only thing I can fault is that he got fractionally behind the violin in the tongued section at the end of the Capriccio excerpt. Very nice playing though.
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2007-07-01 11:34
By the way, has anyone read the "Win Your Next Audition" article on his site? It's all stuff I've heard before, but I still think its well put and worth a read.
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Author: vin
Date: 2007-07-01 12:49
I think Richie's site is great. It really conveys the excitement he has for clarinet (and surfing) and the people in his life. I hope he adds more articles as well. Far from being "egocentric," as David Snow feels, it is a good resource. It is a great chance to hear some of the major excerpts (whether or not you like a particular excerpt- he is a principal in one of the major orchestras in this country- there is something to learn from him). The article is sage advice (hopefully he'll add more articles) and the pictures are great motivation for the rest of us (I certainly didn't play with LA Phil as an early teen). As for the playing, I think griping about the C# misses the point; I don't think a non-clarinetist would notice and especially wouldn't blame it on Buffet clarinets. There are things about Richie's playing that I love and things I don't like, but I do know that Richie's Nielsen 5 makes me #@$% myself when I listen to it (that's a good thing). I do find it superior (not just clarinet-wise) to the Blomstedt recording, especially in the more peaceful sections. As with a lot of Nielsen pieces, there is this whole war v. peace (or whatever you want to call it), and I think the Cinci recording brings this out better. Everyone is going to have their opinion, but I think Sherman is barking up the wrong tree when he says "This person is great blah blah blah, but their C# is unacceptable because they play Buffet." It's about the music, folks.
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Author: greenclarinet
Date: 2007-07-01 13:26
Look. Compare and make all the critical analysis you want. Abnormal for a principal musician having a website...maybe, but you don't call someone egocentric for it. And telling us that the overall playing is fine, but then giving us many negative comments and comparisons to other recordings is not quite disscussing what you "like and dislike" about the clips. What do you like Mr. Snow?
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-07-01 13:44
If we're screaming at people for not "sticking to the music" then I think it should primarily be directed at everyone complaining about the C#...I'm fairly sure you can find the same pitch sounding "sub-par" to someone's assessment on a du Pre or Callas (especially Callas!) recording. My point is that a "thin-sounding" note is not something that affects the interpretation, phrasing, dynamic, etc. etc. etc. and I'm glad someone pointed out that only a clarinetist would even notice.
About the "2 orchestral clarinet principals" list being "unconvincing. You think that the Principal Clarinetist of Toronto and Milwaukee are just abnormal along with Mr. Hawley? Consider that all three of them are very respected teachers, and I think that alone is reason enough for them to have a site. Do you know how many people considering UWM, RCM, CCM, Music Academy of the West, Aspen, etc. will be glad they can find out things they might not know about these three teachers? Your argument was that an "orchestral principal" should not be so egocentric. I wish YOU would get up from under your rock....who exactly in our business is only an orchestral principal these days? I can think of Drucker and Hudgins off the top of my head, and even Drucker has gotten his fair share of teaching time in. I would even hesitate to keep him on the list because of all the solo stuff he does/did.
They didn't put up the websites to make everyone like them, I'm sure- that's unreasonable. They did however probably put them up to be informative for those who ARE interested. This is a good thing for our business. Why are you against that?
Bradley
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2007-07-01 13:51
Hello,
Principals of the past didn't use the internet (probably) because they, or the internet, weren't advanced enough to convey what they wished through the medium. (To be read: they weren't advanced enough at computers).
Would Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, etc,...have used the internet to their advantage if it had been available?
Just a thought.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Joseph LeBlanc
Date: 2007-07-03 04:56
As a former student I'm glad to see that Richie Hawley has a site up. He is a master teacher with the incredible gift of identifying your key weaknesses and gives you common sense solutions to fix them. He has a way of making even the hardest passage seem easy to learn.
For anyone taking auditions I highly recommend reading his audition article and take that advice to heart. It may seem simple but these are the same things he tells his students, and I believe this kind of preparation and attention to detail while learning excerpts is what makes his students so successful in auditions.
Keep an eye out for his emasterclasses. He always had an open door policy with his lessons, so I would often watch my colleagues' lessons. It was a great experience and what I learned just from observing him teach was invaluable.
-Joe
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Author: bufclar
Date: 2007-07-03 19:30
I think Mr. Hawley sounds really wonderful on his website. If I had to do it all over again, I would have jumped at the chance to study with him. And to think he sounds that good on a Vandoren M15!
Kudos to Mr. Hawley!
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Author: Fontalvo
Date: 2007-07-03 21:16
What Mr. Leblanc said is exactly on the money. I don't know him personallly or have never studied with him, but all the advices are really helpfull. I read somewhere that he is preparing a clarinet audition book. I CAN'T WAIT
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-07-03 22:21
Sherman wrote:
"He is a fine player, interesting and with an excellent legato, however within the solo in the Pines, his high C# is very thin, actually sticking out, a common fault of all Buffet clarinets, but rather unacceptable for the Pincipal in a first class orchestra".
This is what I like about Buffet clarinets not smooth and boring from hell rather lively and colorfull.
and J. J. you rock!!!!!!!
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