 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2007-10-23 03:45
I just recently performed my Master's Recital here in Manhattan, KS, and have uploaded a few of the pieces onto my Myspace Music page. Let me know what you think!
http://www.myspace.com/christopherrnichols
Thanks!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: Snowy
Date: 2007-10-23 04:14
Chris,
I, for one, liked it. Paticularly the unaccompanied study.
Best wishes for your music.
Snowy.
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2007-10-23 06:18
Managed to listen to the Donazetti (for 1 min 30 sec). Very musical performance. I enjoyed the unhurried quality but you could consider a slight ly faster tempo if you can keep that effect. Tasteful staccato and phrasing. The only slight problem i could hear was support issues with the high E's and F. All things considered excellent effort for a live performance.
Chris.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2007-10-23 13:31
Overall very nice, it sound very musical, in tune and technically very clean.
I could literally hear you get tired at the end of the Donizetti
There is a version played by Carbonare going around that is much shorter, anyway bravo for the endurance!!
My comments are:
First why choose the soireestucke over the fantasiestucke?
You got all this extra stuff to play and I am not sure it adds much.
Somebody here knows the background on these two different version of the same thing?
Second, it sounds as if you were fighting with your equipment the whole time. Reed unbalanced maybe or a little soft? The results to my ear is a bit of an uneven sound from register to register and large intervals that tend to "pop" with the high note generally a little loud and flat.
It's too bad because it takes away from the otherwise beautiful lines that you play.
Anyway I enjoyed this very much and thank you for posting it's always nice to hear you play.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: William
Date: 2007-10-23 14:37
Very nice performances--technique, tone, intonation, rhythumn, etc--you have certainly learned to play your clarinet. What you must do beyond that, however, is learn to play the music. Just being able to play all of the notes--no matter how perfectly--is lost if what you play lacks musical expression. Perhaps it is the inability of my computor to pick up on all the nuance that may have been heard live, but still, I feel you could have put a little more of that "something extra" that makes music sing. Since you are already "good" (if not, excellant) as a clarinetist, why not aspire to be "all that you can be" as a musician. After you have learned the notes, look for the music. It was good to hear you and I look forward to hearing you again sometime.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-10-23 14:46
I haven't listened to the recordings yet (though I will) but I don't understand the type of review like the one from William above. It keeps mentioning some things are missing, using a lot of very unclear metaphors and descriptions, but I don't really understand what it is you are actually saying. Maybe you can give examples? Maybe you can explain in a way that isn't a metaphor?
William, I completely agree with your general idea, or at least with what I think your idea is, but if I critisize I make sure I explain it clearly so others can undersatnd exactly what I mean. I found that almost always the many subjective things in music are very possible to explain this way.
Thanks.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-10-23 15:14
Good enough Chris! I've heard the Schuman on some CDs by famous players that weren't as good as yours in some ways.
Really enjoyed the Donizetti... I could listen to it all day!
Some of the criticisms posted by some here are meaningless, pay them no mind.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-10-23 15:55
Overall very nice but it was like in the first movement of the Soiréestücke that you were running after a bus or something and I couldn't hear the notes and frases and secondly it's not a solo piece with piano accompanist much more a duo so you should bring the frases to the piano and take it back like a converstation.
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2007-10-23 17:56
Thanks for the good comments and suggestions!
I like to take the first movement of the Schumann faster than most. I've heard many performances I felt were too slow, and lacked forward motion. Also, I think a quicker tempo, really I like to take these with a alla breve feel, adds to the feeling of instability. Schumann was not OK in 1849 when he wrote these pieces.
I actually enjoy the Soireestucke version because of the slight differences. Alan Hacker and Richard Platt prepared this edition from the manuscript housed at the Paris Conservatory. We don't have a manuscript of the published edition as it's most often heard, so Schumann's intent is not entirely clear. Also, his wife, Clara, was known to have altered some things, as she felt they were too personal for publication. Schumann was known to include "secret messages" in his works.
I also think it's interesting to hear things differently once in a while.
Regarding my reed, it sort of warped on the mouthpiece during the recital. The weather here in Kansas is really unstable this time of year, getting cold and warm suddenly, and the humidity is up and down all the time. It's less than ideal for reeds. The Schumann was the last thing I played, preceded by the Reger Sonata Op. 107, Smith Five Pieces, then Donizetti, and the Muczynski Six Duos with Flute.
I also don't care to take the Donizetti as fast as some, and it's again a personal choice. I think if you take it too quickly, you lose some of the charm that it contains. He made some very interesting harmonic choices, and I like to have to opportunity to linger on them for a bit. Even though it's intention is to be a study, it's good music.
Thanks again for your time!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2007-10-24 01:18
My experience with reviews like the one William gave above is that that person is not able to give a clear explanation of what they felt was lacking. Usually, this boils down to making a criticism for the sake of it. Vague references to "the music" and "something extra" don't mean anything if they can't be explained. There may be something lacking, but if you can't be more descriptive, there's no point in actually saying anything.
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Author: hans
Date: 2007-10-24 03:32
crnichols said "Let me know what you think!" so I don't understand why William is being criticized for giving his opinion and why his opinion has become a second topic in this thread.
"not able to give a clear explanation"?.... I found it very clear.
Hans
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2007-10-24 08:51
crnichols I just pointed out because I played the Soiréestücke on my recital last May and my teacher said that if I would take any of the 3 pieces faster than I did I would have get the comment from the judger that it was out of style.
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Author: pelo_ensortijado
Date: 2007-10-24 16:23
i think that it is really great played. (except the squeaks at the highest note, whatever it was...)
are the microphones close to the clarinet? alot of "changing notes"sounds are heard. i do that also some days and my teacher are telling me that im supporting the air the wrong way. with to little and to cold air...
but its unable to avoid if the microphone is close to the clarinet, because the sounds are allways there. just not very loud when using warmer air...
oh. i dont know...
it sounded beautiful!!! keep on playing!! :D
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