 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-08 05:03
I just got back from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra concert at Carnegie Hall, where Martin Fröst gave a superlative performance of the Mozart Concerto.
He played a modern basset clarinet, slimmer than the standard instrument. It had a small gold trademark button just above the throat A key, but even though I went down to the first row, I didn't recognize the maker. The transition from the low E to the basset notes was smooth, but as with almost all extended clarinets, the color changed and was less beautiful on the bottom notes.
He played with a velvety sound that was perfect, as good as I've heard on a modern clarinet, and his phrasing was just as good. He added a fair amount of ornamentation, all very well thought out.
The orchestra was small -- 4-4-3-2-1 plus single winds, and he and they were perfectly coordinated and balanced. There were a few small problems in the orchestra, such as disagreements on whether to begin trills on the upper or lower note and the besetting sin of string players not to come away from appoggiaturas to resolutions, and even vibrating on resolutions, but it was small potatoes compared to the wonderful things.
He stood to play, using a neck strap, and he also leaned back and rested the bell on his knee from time to time.
He made many echo effects. In the second half of the slow movement, he dropped to ppp, as did the orchestra. The finale was a good bit quicker than usual (maybe 96), but very light and effervescent. It's the only time I've heard work at that speed.
He played an encore, at least partly improvised, beginning with the high bassoon solo from The Rite of Spring and then picking up the orchestra for some written-out Klezmer. He got to show off his amazingly fast fingers and tongue. I'm pretty sure the instrument was a Buffet Divine. It had a ringless barrel and bell and the fifth right little finger key for the low E/F correction.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-12-08 05:11)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2013-12-08 12:27
Perhaps the basset was a Chadash or Stephen Fox?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-08 14:44
Ed -
I looked at the Fox site, but the mark (and the design) are very different. It wasn't the Chadash either.
The clarinet last night had Eb in the usual position for the right little finger, D was above it (giving three keys on the top row, Db was outside the left little finger F/C key, and the only thumb key was for low C.
I also looked at various other makers, including Schwenk & Seggelke and Wurlitzer, with no match. I wonder whether anyone has a contact with Martin Fröst to ask about it.
Ken Shaw
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2013-12-08 17:09
There was a picture on Facebook recently of Martin testing out Buffet basset clarinets at the Buffet USA showroom in NYC. Could it have been..?
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Bill Patry
Date: 2013-12-08 18:31
I too went to the concert, and sat in a box seat right above the stage with a great view, but as with Ken I too wondered the make of the basset horn. Here is my guess: a Buffet Elite, modified for basset. The Elites are slim and have the gold dot. I believe Martin Frost plays on new Kanter mouthpiees, eliminating any German system horn.
I love the basset notes, so the color change is a plus for me, but in any event, to my ears the color change began at (written) G, well above the basset notes. Frost's staccato in the basset notes was fantastic as was his fluidity and dynamic control. A thrilling, memorable performance.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2013-12-09 00:20
I love Frost's playing. Very creative and technically immaculate. Never bored.
Glad that others on this board appreciate it as well.
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Author: donald
Date: 2013-12-09 01:13
I understand that Kanter is making mouthpieces, at a price comparable to Brad Behns work, and that the scandanavian clarinet players are in love with them. A friend who performs in Sweden told me her teacher actually has several stored in his bank vault! (my old teacher had a similar cache of Kaspar/Chedeville mouthpieces, but they were only stored in a locked drawer in his office desk).
dn
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Author: Scotti
Date: 2013-12-09 17:21
Kanter still makes mouthpieces. But no, you won't be able to get one.
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2013-12-10 13:09
review today in nyt; glowing review; must read!!
richard smith
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Author: Bill Patry
Date: 2013-12-10 13:41
Here is the link to the review, which I thought dead-on:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/arts/music/martin-frost-clarinetist-and-the-orpheus-chamber-orchestra.html?_r=0
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2013-12-12 18:01
What gave you the idea that Oestreich knows anything about any instrument? He was a philosophy major in college and then took "non-performance" classes at Juilliard and Mannes.
I believe you are thinking of Dan Wakin, a former clarinettist, who no longer appears to be writing for the Times.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-12-13 14:16
I wrote
>Thanks for the write-ups, Ken and Bill. I love being able to read specialized reviews by people who know the instrument better than the average newspaper critic. >
rmk54 wrote,
>>What gave you the idea that Oestreich knows anything about any instrument? He was a philosophy major in college and then took "non-performance" classes at Juilliard and Mannes.
>>
Um, that was my point, although evidently I should have worded it differently. We don't disagree. I avoided writing something snarky about specific newspaper critics, because I didn't attend this concert and I don't have grounds to object to anything they wrote, but my comment was a thank-you to Ken and Bill for their especially knowledgable and interesting reviews in this thread.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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