Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-07-30 21:21
Just a small personal commentary about a few things I liked.
I tried out most of the clarinet brands and many of the models available. Sorry to see that no SE Artist models were on the Yamaha tables, but the CSVR and SEVR models were in abundance, and they are superb! The keywork and finishing on both were identical; only the SEVR is a little larger in the bore. They sealed, the keywork was tight and even, the tuning and consistency among the best on the market. At a selling price of around $3,000, both the CSVR and SEVR were unmatched by anything else I tried. No other clarinet for under $6,000 even came close.
They both play effortlessly. No embouchure compensation is necessary to preserve consistency in pitch and tone throughout the range. I was drawn a bit more to the SEVR because I like a very wide dynamic range in a clarinet, something that might assert itself in the Nielsen Fifth Symphony, for instance, or the sustained crescendos of the Abyss of Birds solo in Messiaen. Both models will do that, but the SEVR does it a bit more.
The SEVR and CSVR both seem preferable to the R13s I tried. But don't count Buffet out! Two vendors known for selecting Buffets and setting them up had killer Buffet R13 Prestige clarinets on the table. These cost twice as much as the SEVR and CSVR. I would not say that the Prestiges played "better" than the Yamahas, but they did have more of that classic French sound associated with the Buffet name and they seemed to me to "slot" just a little more easily in the altissimo than the certainly more than adequate Yamaha's did. For example, I found it easier to play rapidly from the altissimo E to the A a forth higher and back again on the Prestige.
All three of these clarinet models, as they appeared at the Fest, seem to be to be truly excellent, and only personal taste and individual needs would recommend one above the other. The other clarinet brands and models available for testing ranged from very good to not so good (and I'm not going to be more specific than that) in tone, tuning, consistency, ergonomics, etc. So, for me at least, Bravo Yamaha and bravo Buffet (at least for that model set up that way)! Outside of the small European workshops (maybe) these Boehm clarinets are about as good as it gets.
As a postscript on the clarinets at the ICA, let me add that the Selmer Seles Presence clarinet also played very well and would be another good pro instrument--at an affordable price--worth trying. Good depth, resonance, and balance to the sound.
A note on just two of the many outstanding performances. Julian Bliss played a letter perfect rendition of the Nielsen Concerto, making even the most difficult passages sound like child's play. Smooth, confident, reliable throughout. I happened to be seated in the audience nearly in front of the famous Italian bass clarinetist, Parisi, and I heard him express admiration for Bliss's performance.
Stanley Drucker, now somewhere close to 90(?), blazed through Nicholas Roussakis' 1957 composition "Two Dances for Solo Clarinetist," with a rhythmic drive and strong, ringing tone that easily reached the last row of the large audience in the Gulf Coast Room. He deftly negotiated some rapid wide-interval passages that would have challenged even the best flute players and brought the audience to its feet in applause. I left with a renewed appreciation of Drucker's remarkable abilities.
Post Edited (2017-08-13 22:35)
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
