The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Another Wright question

Author: seabreeze
Date: 2021-08-04 05:03

I've never heard a 14-yr old play the Nielsen as well as Drucker did in his performances with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, His performance is not just fast, it's compelling and pays great attention to the line and development. A couple of years ago I heard Julian Bliss play the Nielsen live to a standing ovation. The performance was about the same tempo as Drucker's and the execution was perfect. But even in Bliss, the rhythmic drive and sheer excitement in Drucker's rendition just wasn't there. Sabine Meyer gives a very polished beautiful performance, about the same pace but more relaxed. The solo stars of the clarinet world are not playing it faster. Frost plays it about the same pace but I don't hear the same drama in his performance as in Drucker's either. Drucker did not play as mechanically as you suggest.

As for players wanting to sound like Wright or McLane, you hear that kind of talk from old fogies like me, not from the 14-yr old whiz kids. A few years ago, they wanted to sound like Jon Manasse; then they were buying fat boy barrels and playing mouthpieces with thick rails and open facings--nothing like Wright. Now I hear Andy Ottensamer as their ideal, but that also will soon pass. Time consumes all; time conquers all. The sounds of both Wright and Drucker are functions of time and will pass into oblivion with everything else. Some new sounds will arise and be copied. Samuel Johnston said you can't freeze the meaning of English words forever into one dictionary definition; it is their nature to change. And so with the sound of the clarinet; it will always be changing. I'm starting to like the sound of Patrick Morgan's clarinet--quite distinct from Drucker, Wright, Manasee, and Ottensamer.

For a more just estimate of Stanley Drucker, I recommend Mitchell Estrin's biography "Stanley Drucker, Clarinet Master."

Post Edited (2021-08-04 07:25)

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics