 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Nick Conner
Date: 2001-07-29 16:16
Hello. I recently purchased a (IMO) poor quality CD called "The Magic of the Clarinet." Two of the tracks feature Jacques Lancelot (forgive spelling) playing the second and third movements of the Mozart, among various other works and clarinetists. I was very... intrigued... by the tone quality employed by Lancelot on this CD. It seems almost metallic, and maybe even pinched. It's nothing I've heard from before from professional clarinetists. Is this some kind of horrible recording, or is that how he typically plays? I've heard artists from the biggest three schools of playing (American, English, and French), but he doesn't seem to fit into any of them with the sound he produces. Any comments on his playing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Nick Conner
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-07-29 18:22
Nick,
Look at the dates of the recordings. Recordings from the 1910-1940s tend to have very pinched sounds with big cutoffs starting at mid-frequencies.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: earl thomas
Date: 2001-07-30 01:30
He's one of the finest clarinetists in the whole world. That recording, like many others, gives the wrong impression. Lancelot's recording of the Francaix is superb. I think it is on a London recording. He has many recorded performances out there, some of them from Japan, I think.
Anyway, he's just one of the best in the world, and I hope you can find his Franxaix Concerto recording. Sincerely, E.T.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: HAT
Date: 2001-07-30 14:42
Lancelot is part of a particular French style of playing which uses a shallow, very fast vibrato virtually all of the time, along with a rather bright tone quality. Some find this type of sound unattractive.
I have not heard any young players from anywhere play like this.
David Hattner, NYC
www.northbranchrecords.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: beejay
Date: 2001-07-30 19:26
I take lessons from a clarinetist who studied with Lancelot at the Paris conservatory, and who later collaborated with him for many years. If according to HAT, Lancelot employed "a shallow, very fast vibrato virtually all of the time, along with a rather bright tone quality," I have yet to have any direct evidence of it. This may be the impression given by poor recordings, but to my knowledge, Lancelot employed virtually no vibrato, and the bright tone quality is somewhat typical of the French school, as opposed to the "dark" sound sought by many American clarinetists. I don't find the sound unattractive at all -- I wish I could play like that. Incidentally, all of you playing on R13s and RCs have Lancelot to thank. He was for many years the chief tester at Buffet Crampon, and worked closely with Robert Carree on developing BC's polycylindical bore.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: HAT
Date: 2001-07-30 20:31
As I said, the vibrato was also very shallow, which can be interpreted as more of a 'shimmer' than what we think of as an actual vibrato..
David Hattner, NYC
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-07-31 01:30
Looking for something else (and before I read this thread), I just tripped over a post from Francois Kloc in the Klarinet archives that says Lancelot worked with Caree specifically on the development of the "Continentale," a short-lived model introduced several years after the R13. Francois makes no mention of his participating in the development of the R13.
In his day, Lancelot was regarded as one of the top clarinetists in the world. As Mark C. points out, those are OLD recordings which tend to exacerbate his "bright" (I hope Leeson isn't looking) or "thin" French small bore sound. BTW, he was also responsible for the publication of a great deal of repertoire for the clarinet.
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-07-31 01:59
>Francois makes no mention of his participating in the development of the R13.
beejay(from France?) seems to refer to RC- a European (or for countries other than US market) model not R13. R13 have been sold mainly in US. In fact only recently Japanese Buffet subsidiary started to sell R13s.
Jacque Lancelot is certainly different from American players. But I feel every French player plays differently even among them. ex. Michel Arrignon plays quite differently. His style does not fit Brahms or Schuman but I like his playing French composers tunes such as Debussy or Mihaud.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: beejay
Date: 2001-08-04 13:40
Hiroshi is correct. I checked my facts, and Lancelot was indeed connected with the development of the RC, not the R13. Thank you for pointing that out, and my apologies if I misled anyone.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
