 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: OmarHo
Date: 2006-03-18 21:12
http://www.sharonkam.com/index1.php?id=14&lan=1
There you can view videos of Sharon Kam playing K. 622 with a basset clarinet. Enjoy!
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2006-03-18 21:50
Fine technique, great sound, but the interpretation is definitely not my favorite. No eingang, no improvisation, and all the sixteenth run were slurred in the first movement. This is a little surprising ater all the research that has been put intot establishing proper "classical period" performance practices.
On the other hand I really enjoyed the Rossini, she has a very consitent full bodied sound at every dynamic level.
Anyway, thanks for sharing!
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Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-03-18 22:10
I respect Sharon Kam but I can not stand to listen to her. I think her sound is just horrible. But I agree she has chops (fingers etc).
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2006-03-18 22:15
By the way, I might want to add that I can only dream of ever playing a single note the way she does.
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Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-03-19 04:01
I saw her play the Mozart concerto live twice last year. One concert was part of a series of explained concert. The explanation was a bit about the basset clarinet. Sharon Kam said she prefers to play the Mozart concerto on a regular A clarinet, because she feels the basset clarinet is not that good of an instrument compared with it. She said she fulled around with a basset for a while but now plays this concerto only on the regular A clarinet.
"No eingang, no improvisation, and all the sixteenth run were slurred in the first movement."
Maybe that had to do with the basset? Both times I saw her live she tongued those 16ths. She also has a CD with the Mozart concerto which I will check later but I think she tongue there too.
The CD is a little old and I remember they talked about recordings a little and she said she might not even recognize that it is her on the CD since she probably play it very differently today.
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Author: Wind Player
Date: 2006-03-19 19:51
She sound great, I just wish she'd get the ants out of her pants. The way she moves throughout the piece is quite distracting. None-the-less, I really enjoy listening to her.
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2006-03-19 20:32
While watching the video, I was thinking to myself that she was clearly a Neidich student if there ever was one. Then I go check her bio, and sure enough, she was.
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Author: ken
Date: 2006-03-20 03:12
Wind Player wrote: "She sound great, I just wish she'd get the ants out of her pants. The way she moves throughout the piece is quite distracting. None-the-less, I really enjoy listening to her."
-- The first and only time I saw Sabine Meyer she was rocking back and forth so violently with her hair slapping her in the face I thought I was at a Johnny Winter concert ... otherwise, a brilliant display of clarinet artistry. As well, when sitting and performing Bob Spring can appear as if he's stamping out fires ... again, a miraculous clarinetist.
These critiques always intrigue me as they reveal our individual concepts of "what we think" we're hearing. Viewing the demos, Kam's skill in breathing "life" into the music struck me as most outstanding ... her honesty and sensitivity is as contagious as it is tangible.
And, I wouldn't be overly critical on her choice of articulations and ornamentations; in its day, "classical period" notation, cadenzas, improvisation and eingang(s) wasn't always ink but discretionary. I thought Kam's articulations were musically sensible and structurally sound. More, I tally 21 historical editions of K.622 dating back to 1801; there may be universally accepted expressions but no definitive edition or hard and fast rules for tonguing and slurring.
Comparatively, it was 19th-century Romantic ideals that began "filling in the details." Composers began exercising tighter controls and ownership over their work ... notation and repertoire practices became increasingly standardized. It essentially changed the rules for notation (not too mention killing the lost art of classical improvisation.) Then, recorded music brought about even narrower standardization and methodology of reading music. v/r Ken
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-03-20 11:20
Thanks for this link! I don't know why anyone would criticize her for her body movement, I don't find it terribly distracting. I suppose you could minimize the screen and just listen if it bothered you that much. Anyway, from listening to the exposition, I want to hear the entire performance. She has a beautiful sound...and although her articulation and approach to the markings are fairly conventional, it sounds so fresh! For me this always separates a good performance from a bad one, i.e. whether or not it sounds contrived, and this certainly does not.
Christopher Nichols
1st Infantry Division Band
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
Post Edited (2006-03-20 15:29)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-03-20 12:16
Just watched the link. Interesting since it is actually later than when she said she prefers the A over the basset. Maybe Buffet improved their basset clarinet in recent years? Or maybe she played it on basset eventhough she prefers the regular A.
I can't believe this hall! Too bad we don't have anything like that here....
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Author: Wind Player
Date: 2006-03-20 12:45
I still said I enjoyed the performance. I agree with the positive opinions on her execution. It is very enjoyable to listen to and watch. I'm not against body movement either, but this was a bit "distracting."
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2006-03-21 02:59
That has to be the worst performance of that piece I have heard in a long time. I find nothing beautiful in her sound or her interpretation. She apparently is not all that concerned with good intonation either. How is it that someone who plays with a big honky spread sound like this can be so admired? Have we forgotten the beautiful focused sound of the clarinet? Please dust off your older recordings to remind yourselves of the simple beauty of a clarinet tone.
Her body movements are completely ridiculous! She looked to me like she needed some medication for her "ticks" in the 3rd movement. Imagine if a famous opera singer came out and performed with lunges and dips, etc. This is crazy!
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2006-03-21 03:20
Dave,
Although I don't particularly enjoy this particular performance of the concerto, I can't say I hear a honky spread quality to her sound. You suggest listening to older recordings, so we can all rediscover the forgotten beautiful focused sound of the clarinet. This "beautiful focused" sound of the clarinet is one school of play and it is unfortunately what most players are trying to emulate these days. If there is one thing that older recordings can teach us, it is not the beautiful focused sound, but the large and exciting different types of sounds and interpretations that predated the uniformization of style induced by a sort of music globalization through record sales. Today, except for a select few, everybody sounds the same and that is, IMHO, really too bad.
-S
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Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: Wind Player
Date: 2006-03-21 03:48
Dave wrote: "That has to be the worst performance of that piece I have heard in a long time. I find nothing beautiful in her sound or her interpretation. She apparently is not all that concerned with good intonation either. How is it that someone who plays with a big honky spread sound like this can be so admired?"
I think I will disassociate myself from this thread now. This is just getting mean. I liked her execution and sound. I can't help to feel there might be a little jealousy here.
clarnibass- I agree. That is a beautiful hall!
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