 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Crystal Obrien
Date: 2000-12-16 08:22
I've heard a few old recordings of Dieter Kloecker and find them to be very easy and pleasing to listen to. It's not the most creative or artistic playing by any means but there is something very appealing about the simplicity with which he approached the instrument and music. I particularly like his Beethoven Septet recording with the Consortium Classicum, which he was director of and I recently heard a recording of an early clarinet concerto by Von Schott.
I was wondering if anyone knows of any other good recordings he's done and what people think of his playing in comparison to Karl Leister, Peter Schmidl, and Alfred Prinz? I find that his tone, like his interpretations, is very stright-forward, pure, clean but without much variety and dynamic shadings. Yet, I find it to be enjoyable because of this simplicity. What do you all think? - Crystal
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-12-17 06:40
To mention a few of my favorites:
"Esquisses Hebraiques." Clarinet quintets on Jewish themes. Dieter Kloecker and the Vlach Quartet.
Antonio Rosetti. Clarinet Concertos 1 & 2. Kloecker and SWR symphony orchestra.
Clarinet concertos by Hoffmeister, von Schacht and Backofen. Kloecker and Concero Amsterdam.
Beethoven. Harmony Music from Fidelio and Variations on Mozart's La Ci Darem la Mano. Kloecker and Consortium Classicum.
It never occurred to me that Kloecker was in any way simple or lacking in expression . It seems to me that he has a beautiful tone and a great range of emotional shadings.
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-18 01:05
First, its Dieter KLOCKER (only 1 "E" in Klocker).
Klocker is arguably one of the world's finest clarinetists, recorded solo's and with ensembles. Sorry, I don't detect the shadings you talk about. I HEAR A FABULOUS TONE/SOUND.
Here is a Link to some Clarinet Clips. Happy Holidays to all. mw
http://hem.passagen.se/eriahl/soundclips.htm
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Author: Crystal Obrien
Date: 2000-12-18 02:28
Thanks for the responses. I'll look into the recordings of Kloecker that Beejay and MW mentioned and perhaps I'll hear more nuance and artistry on top of that sweet, resonant sound. By the way, I have a record of him in which his name is spelled with 2 E's.
Does anyone know if he recorded the Brahms sonatas? Did he ever play in an orchestra or just solo with orchestras? Anyone know if he played German or French clarinet mouthpieces?... It's obvious that his clarinet is German with that whole key system but there is such a ping and pop to his sound that it seems more like a French mpc. than a German one. To me, his tone sounds more resonant and live than Leister, Prinz, Shmidl and Sabine Meyer. Crystal
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-12-18 07:12
Sorry MW, but it's not Klocker but Kloecker. The convention in English is to render the umlaut as the vowel plus an e, unless one has the umlaut symbol on one's keyboard, which I do not.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-12-18 09:45
Apologies if this appears twice, but my earlier posting does not seem to have made it. MW you are wrong about spelling of Kloecker, and Crystal and I are correct. An umlaut is rendered in English either as the vowel with two dots on top or the vowel followed by an e. Without the unlaut, it would be pronounced Klocker, as in clock. With an umlaut it is pronounced something like Klerker.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-12-18 09:55
Crystal, To answer your question about Kloecker's performing career, he is still going strong as director of the Consortium Classicum, which he founded. He played as a soloist with several German symphony orchestras following studies with Jost Michaels and is professor of clarinet and wind ensemble music at the conservatory at Fribourg. He also is a prolific writer and musicologist. I listened carefully to several of his recordings, and yes, I think he has some mannerisms, but I do love his sound.
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-19 16:52
Dieter Klöcker is shown 60 times to 10 for Kloecker in the www.hbdirect.com database of discographies. So, I don't think the spelling omitting the 2nd "E" is wrong (Amazon & other sites show both "spellings").
However, I *was* wrong when I told Crystal she had misspelled.
My apologies, Crystal.
mw
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-19 17:10
Crystal -
I'm of two minds about Dieter Kloecker. He's recorded an enormous amount of stuff over a long period, and he's absolutely reliable. On the other hand, as you say, he's not terribly exciting, in the way Sabine Meyer is, for example. He rises to the occasion playing the best music, but it seems to me that on uninspiring music, he's also uninspiring.
I don't believe he's ever been in an orchestra, but rather founded the Consortium Classicum when he graduated from conservatory.
He must be a very charming person. He's managed to get into private collections of music in castles and stately homes all over Germany and Austria, and he has retrieved and recorded dozens if not hundreds of previously unknown works.
He has annoyed the scholarly community by editing these works, so that you can't be sure whether he's playing what was originally written. Also, he's gone farther than he should have in attributing what he finds to major composers (e.g., Mozart). Finally, he takes the position that since he's discovered stuff, he has a proprietary right to perform it, or even look at it, and he won't show the scores to anyone else.
He did indeed record an LP of the Brahms sonatas, perhaps 20 years ago, playing an original Oskar Oehler clarinet. I have it, and it's really fine.
An important figure, even if imperfect.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-12-19 17:12
If you don't or can't do the umlaut (the double dots), then omitting the "e" is indeed incorrect. There are words in German that have different meanings depending on whether there is an umlaut. For other words, it makes a difference between singular and plural. So you must either use the umlaut where called for or use the "e" to indicate that the preceding vowel is supposed to be an umlaut when the umlaut notation is unavailable.
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Author: Crystal Obrien
Date: 2000-12-20 05:34
Ken Shaw,
Thanks for all of the info. on Kloecker... I knew that he recorded a lot of music but had no idea about all the behind the scenes searching he did for obscure, early classical works. My exposure to his recordings has been limited to a few LP's and occasional radio broadcasts that I've heard by chance.
Do you know if the Brahms sonatas LP has been digitally re-mastered and re-released on CD? Was it on the Musical Heritage Society Label? By the way, Harold Wright recorded the Brahms Sonatas on the Musical Heritage Society label years ago with Harris Goldsmith but I havn't seen that recording re-released... too bad. Wright did record them in 1992 with Peter Serkin however.
Are there any other recordings of Kloecker that are inspired and hopefully inspiring? Thanks.
-Crystal
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