 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-05-15 20:05
Hearing Martin Fröst tonight in Phila. playing the Bartok and Messiaen.
Ya wouldn't even know he was playing with the marketing as it's listed as the Borletti-Buitoni Ensemble with Mitsuko Uchida, piano so if that group comes to your area, check the players names.
Looking forward to it!
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-05-15 22:30
I'm jealous, too. I'd love to see him play live!
If you're reading this, Martin, you need to schedule a tour date here in Texas... Dallas is good, but I'd be willing to drive to Houston, too.... :-)
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Author: Bradley Wong
Date: 2008-05-16 02:33
They played the concert at our campus Tuesday night. It was a very impressive performance by all involved. Frost is a very mobile clarinetist (as anyone who has seen him on YouTube knows!), and he and the violinist played standing up in the Bartok.
I tried to engage him in conversation several times while he was on campus, but either due to jet lag, language, etc. he didn't have much to say. But take the opportunity to hear him play if you can.
Brad Wong
Western Michigan University
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Author: Mootman
Date: 2008-05-16 04:40
Just saw it tonight. It was a hassle fighting baseball and rush hour traffic to get there but it was oh so worth it. Such beautiful playing - his refined tone melted away my troubles.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2008-05-16 05:32
A Montréal stop would make many musicians very happy.
However, we got Charles Neidich doing the Messiaen Quartet tonight (amazing)!! It was apparently broadcast in the US on public radio...
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-05-16 05:48
It was a sensational program and just beautifully played!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-05-16 20:43
His posture and body movement is odd. I found it fairly distracting at times. It reminded me of his youtube videos of Stockhausen I've seen.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-05-16 21:45
Really distracting. Not like Sabine Meyer who moves around a lot, but the movement applies to the music. His movement seemed random, angular and contorted.
Nice sound though a bit bright for me, and the intonation was great. Technically it was good, but not great - too many mistakes for me.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-05-17 01:17
I did find something odd about his playing (other than the angular choreography)...his use of circular breathing. It struck me as excessive. I haven't studied the Bartok Contrasts, but I know the Messiaen score well. Messiaen clearly indicates breaths (or pauses) in the Abyss of the Birds at logical places. This literature is not that difficult from a breathing standpoint (in this case, I mean getting adequate air for a phrase). I would never consider using this "extended technique" inthis context.
I think Igor Begelman does a lot of circular breathing in traditional literature also. I attended a performance of the Mozart concerto with the Boston Classical Orchestra a few years ago and took note of it. It was beautiful, but it also struck me as odd at that time.
What does everyone else think? Is this going to be a new, widespread trend in clarinet playing? I personally find the traditional breath fairly comforting in performance.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-05-17 01:57
Christopher, you make a good point about the role of breathing in phrasing. Many years ago when I was in a youth orchestra, our director (himself a violist) would periodically give the *strings* a direction to "breathe" in certain spots. Of course, from the standpoint of sound, what he wanted was for them to lift their bows--but he also asked them literally to take a breath at those spots, because it would help them understand the phrasing better.
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Author: S. Friedland
Date: 2008-05-17 03:03
Ifhe used circular breathing in the Abime, it was only for show, for you are correct, Messiaen marks breaths as well as pauses and I would consider continuous playing for the 7 minutes as excessive.
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2008-05-17 19:45
There is such idiomatic usage as a"rhetorical" breath. But in the case of
Messiaen, there is no doubt that the breaths are not rhetorical but essential to the music. This from may musicians who played the Quartour for Messiaen himself.
Gregory Smith
http://www.gregory-smith.com
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2008-05-17 23:30
Didn't Guy DePlus, in his Erato recording, use circular breathing in the long crescendo notes in the Abime? He MUST have.
Either way, I like his interpretation.
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Author: tdinap
Date: 2008-05-19 16:39
He also used circular breathing when I saw him in London. He did some transcriptions of cello works by Schumann in which circular breathing might've been "necessary" in order to imitate a string instrument, and he obviously used it on his piece, "On the Wing", which is basically written for the purpose of showing off all the crazy stuff he can do. However, he also used circular breathing in the Brahms Second Sonata, which seems completely unnecessary, except perhaps in the last variation of the finale, if one chooses to ignore the printed breaths.
Tom
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Author: kssams
Date: 2008-05-19 16:46
We saw him at Carnegie Hall Saturday and thought it was wonderful! My 16-year-old wishes she could play so well (and knew how to do the circular breathing).
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2008-05-19 16:53
Neidich used circular breathing in his performance. It was the slowest abyss (as opposed to bird) section I've ever heard live or on a recording. It was glorious, as the abyss is supposed to represent the weariness of time.
I spoke to him backstage, and he explained Messiaen's indication as far as tempo, so he could take exactly as much time as he felt necessary, apparently without infringing on the indicated breaths (as far as I could notice).
The performance was stressfully moving. The tension and attention the audience had was amazing- and everyone I spoke to afterwards, clarinetist or not, was dumbfounded. A violinist from my school said the crescendos from niente (or however it's marked) "scared" her.
I think that's what we're all going for, no? Criticize if you want, but I struggle to see the merit in "circus trick" bashing if it has such a touching effect on an audience as it's used properly. I'm not one to think those techniques necessary, but I'd sure like to circular breathe in things like the Schumann Romances (like every great video of an oboist I've seen) in that middle section of the 2nd Romance etc.
Bradley
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-05-19 17:10
Some use it well, others use it to make run-on phrases which is not a musical thing to do.
Just because I can do it, should I? There are passages which it works quite well - Devienne Sonata #1 has a really, really long 1st mvt. passage (about 30 seconds of 16th notes) which circular breathing can certainly help.
I use it very rarely.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: kev182
Date: 2008-05-20 16:55
The entire Interlochen Clarinet studio drove up to Kalamazoo to hear them play.
Absolutely incredible! Such refined players and musicians... They were able to work seamlessly together, almost reading each others mind.
Frost's fresh interpretations were breathtaking and his circular breathing seemed like an innate ability.
One of the best concerts I have ever attended. Do all you can to see them!
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Author: ChrisArcand
Date: 2008-05-21 23:22
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/arts/music/20frie.html?ref=music
If this hasn't already been posted...CA
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Author: tnclarinetist
Date: 2008-05-22 15:48
I played the Messiaen this semester, and it was almost impossible to play the marked breathes without passing out when you get there. A friend of mine went to a lecture at Carnegie Hall, and the clarinetist who played it at the premiere said he was furious; he couldn't sustain the phrases (Messiaen had heard about the circular breathing in France), and the semi-chromatic runs and expressions were unidiomatic for the time. So circular breathing, for most, is necessary. Actually... circular breathing done correctly is necessary. It's an old method, extending back to when an oboist mastered it just after Mozart's death. The technique is not for show, it's just another task that wind players have to master, just like increasing finger mobility on the clarinet. It not only teaches us how to take in more air, but also to release air if too much is taken in from regular breathing. Mr. Neidich is a prime example, and he always says never to sacrifice the phrase when it comes to artistic interpretations.
NG
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