Author: connie
Date: 2001-08-20 17:47
A Bird's-Eye View of ClarinetFest 2001
(Autobiographical note: I began playing the clarinet at the age of 11, and played all through college. After graduation, life happened, and I took a 22-year hiatus. Three years ago, I started playing again, slowly at first, and now am playing regularly in a community band, two small church ensembles, and as a volunteer for my children's school, both in the pep band and for their musical productions. To illustrate my obsession, I will say that, since resuming my active participation in music, I have bought eight clarinets in various keys and states of playability, five mouthpieces, two barrels, two saxophones, and a bass recorder.)
Just imagine...1100 clarinetists together in New Orleans for 5 days of clarineting. We heard music ranging from Mozart to jazz to Libby Larsen, from artists ranging from Larry Combs and Ricardo Morales, to Buddy DeFranco and Pete Fountain, to Eddie Daniels, to name a few. We heard presentations including Muhlfield's clarinet, the history of the clarinet in the Big Band era, and the use of the clarinet with electronics, gadgets, and video. Add to that a handful of research presentations; the finals of the ICA auditions for some extremely talented young people; and the opportunity to play a tremendous variety of clarinets, mouthpieces, reeds, and ligatures; to lose oneself in the sheet music and CD's offered for sale; and to speak with master craftsmen including Stephen Fox, Gregory Smith, and Luis Rossi.
I arrived in New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon with all of my newbie enthusiasm. I had read the promo on the website but really didn't know what to expect. My family declined to accompany me (New Orleans in August??? You must be kidding!!!) so I was totally unencumbered. I had grand designs of spending all day and every evening in one presentation or another and worried that I wouldn't have enough time to visit the Exhibit Hall. I soon discovered that I needed frequent short breaks because I was overwhelmed, and the Exhibit Hall was a nice place to wander. (More on that later.) Conversations with others usually began with the question, "Are you a player or a teacher?" My response: "I'm a pretender."
The concerts and the music were amazing. Listening to recordings will never match the sound of a live performance. Except for two evenings at the Orpheum Theater, the recitals were held in the ballroom of the hotel, which was adequate but not a perfect venue. Wednesday evening's concert knocked my socks off, with Michel Arrignon, Seiji Yokokawa, and Ricardo Morales in an assortment of solo, duet and trio works. The artistry of the individual pieces was stunning, but to hear two or three together was most impressive. My favorite was the Mendelssohn Concertpiece #1, with Morales and Yokokawa, with flawless blend and simultaneous articulation. You just had to be there.
The evening concerts on Friday and Saturday were played at the Orpheum, a gorgeous old theater in New Orleans. Larry Combs was magnificent on Reicha's clarinet quintet, with the Colorado String Quartet. This was followed by Karl Leister performing Brahms' clarinet quintet, also with the Colorado String Quartet. I had a little more difficulty with this one, mostly because of the theatrical gestures and facial expressions of the string players, and the gestures and flourishes provided by Mr. Leister as emphasis at the ends of phrases. Once I closed my eyes and just listened, it was better, but there were many times when the strings covered the clarinet line. Saturday night brought the premiere of Libby Larsen's "Bally Deux", a piece for two clarinets and string quartet. Ms. Larsen gave us a brief introduction to the piece, which combines twentieth-century harmony with jazz improvisation. Eddie Daniels and Caroline Hartig were well up to the task, and the Colorado String Quartet again provided the foundation. This was followed by Franklin Cohen in a breathtaking performance of the Mozart clarinet quintet.
Jazz offerings were plentiful throughout the conference, beginning with Tim Laughlin providing dinner music the first evening. Other highlights were Buddy DeFranco, the Dukes of Dixieland, Pete Fountain, and Eddie Daniels with Roger Kellaway. Daniels ended his set with an invitation to Ron Odrich, Al Galladoro, Larry Combs, and Buddy DeFranco to join him on stage for a final chorus. Odrich and Galladoro took him up on it, and the three clarinetists with Kellaway on the piano had a blast. There were also a variety of lecture/performance presentations related to New Orleans, including a discussion of the life and music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, with live illustrations by the Michael Webster trio; and the Creole clarinet.
One opportunity for education was Christine MacDonnell's presentation of "Overuse Syndrome: A Debilitating Disorder Amongst Musicians." Although not one of the prizewinners, her topic is of general interest to all clarinetists. Considering the amount of discussion about hand and wrist problems on the bulletin board, I think a synopsis of this lecture should be posted separately.
But ultimately, all clarinetists want to play. Warm-up classes held on each of three days by Ricardo Morales, Eddie Daniels, and Larry Combs, respectively, showed different approaches to the warm-up, and lots of good advice. A master class by Eddie Daniels again showed Daniels' pure joy in making sounds with his clarinet, and gave a couple of brave individuals the chance to play in front of the rest of us and have Daniels offer suggestions. (For myself, I have enough to concentrate on already, and I'm not ready yet for any more suggestions for improvement.) Unfortunately, Anthony Gigliotti was unable to attend due to illness, so his master class was canceled. A clarinet choir was offered, but since I would be leaving prior to the performance on Sunday, I did not participate. Others were a little disgruntled at the practice times, taking up all their free time before dinner. Participation in a new piece by William O. Smith, "Crescent Chain," was also impossible for me because of my early departure.
Unwilling to risk my R13 traveling, and wanting the opportunity to get some of the experts to try to date my ancient-but-not-antique LeBlanc, I took the old LeBlanc with me. I've been trying to date this horn for the past three years. The folks at LeBlanc oohed and aahhed over it, noted the alignment of the left-hand pinky keys ("Leon did this, look how perfect it is", and had me play-test it against the Noblet 45 (mine is darker) and the Opus (no comparison). Although Dave Surber has no record of its serial number in Kenosha, the Paris LeBlanc people think they might be able to get some info on it and have promised to get back to me, one way or the other. Their best estimate is that it may be an "LL" manufactured before they began stamping the "LL" logo on the clarinets, probably from around 1950. Very interesting, no?
The downside of having this older instrument to play was that, while play-testing instruments, I played a Big Easy, LeBlanc's replacement of the Pete Fountain, and the model that Pete had performed on the night before. What a "big" sound, and how mellow! To make a long story short, I wound up buying it, rationalizing that when I need to outblow the other instruments, I can do it with this one, and when I need to blend, I can use the R13.
I had also brought along three eBay specials that I've bought over the past year, to try to find out more about them. The first, a Buffet that was billed as an Eb, but is obviously larger than an Eb, but smaller than my modern "C" clarinet, turned out to be a "D". The second, a beautiful old Albert-Muller system, was thought to be a low-pitch Bb by Stephen Fox, but proclaimed an "A" by Jerry Horne, who has The Band Museum in Pine Bluff, AR, (and had some fascinating older models on display). He found a name stamped into the lower joint tenon ring: "J. McNaught", which wasn't listed in Langwill's, and he thought most likely was an owner's name. (Anyone else with info?) The third clarinet is an Albert-system Eb, but with no manufacturer or serial number, and therefore will have to remain anonymous. None of these are currently in playable condition, but they look like they just need pads and corks, so I'm working on it.
There were many other fantastic performances, some of which I was able to attend, and some not. There were far too many events for my aging brain to absorb. However, I have come home a little smarter and recharged. I am a little richer for that, though my bank account is a little poorer. I met many great clarinetists, not all of them famous, and lots of amateurs like myself. I had the pleasure of Bob Gardner's company for two days. Any player, at any level, would have found great music, good advice, and camaraderie. Next year's ClarinetFest will be held in Stockholm, and, in 2003, Salt Lake City. I'm considering asking LeBlanc if they'll give me some frequent buyer miles...if I buy 25 more clarinets in the next year, do you think I can get to Sweden for free?
(The opinions expressed in this document are solely my own, and are not necessarily shared by the management.)
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