 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-06-15 22:14
The NY Philharmonic will be broadcast live over PBS tonight. Local listings are at http://www.pbs.org/lflc
Gil Shaham is the guest soloist in Sibelius' Violin Concerto. Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Stravinsky's Firebird are also on the program, as conducted by David Robertson.
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Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-06-15 23:11
That Dukas is hard as heck...can't wait to hear the performance!
Thanks for the heads up!
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-06-16 00:14
Lorin Maazel is ill and unable to conduct tonight, and so David Robertson is subbing in on very short notice.
Hmmmm....New York Philharmonic....live televised broadcast...regular music director falls ill...much younger and much lesser known conductor fills in....
Sounds familiar?
Okay, maybe chances are that David Robertson won't become the next Leonard Bernstein, but it's possible and fun to think about.
Enjoy the broadcast. Robertson is fun to watch.
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Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-06-16 00:59
When Nuccio sits principle, the wind section gels. Him and Pascual are brilliant together...Opening of the 2nd movement was out of this world.
And, Gil Shahams Sibelius VC now trumps Mutter in my mind. The man is true genius!
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2005-06-16 04:25
So was the 2nd clarinetist using one of the new Yamaha clarinet models?
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Author: vin
Date: 2005-06-16 04:41
Last time I heard the NY Phil, I believe Pascual was playing Chadash clarinets, but I missed this particular broadcast, so I don't know what he was playing.
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Author: BlockEyeDan
Date: 2005-06-16 14:03
Hello all,
I thoroughly enjoyed last night's broadcast. One of the highlights for me was the interview with Gil Shaham during the intermission. What a cheerful, happy-go-lucky man! His story about cutting his thumb on a pistachio shell was especially funny. My only query: how well does a 1699 Stradivarius stand up to sweat? 
Now on to more serious matters. Stanley Drucker uses a METAL LIGATURE?!?!? And he has the screws FACING HIS CHIN?!?!?!? Good Lord! Has he been living under a rock somewhere? I suppose he swabs barrel to bell, as well...... This guy calls himself a pro. Sheesh. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
To our more, um, obtuse readers, the above is a joke. I guess I'm just giddy from it being cool enough to breathe in New England again.
Have a nice day, y'all
Dan
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-06-16 15:59
It was also the first time I recall Nuccio playing on a fabric ligature.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-06-16 16:21
If a clarinet can "blow out" why doesn't a 1699 Strad. violin "bow out"?
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-06-16 16:26
Kevin wrote:
> It was also the first time I recall Nuccio playing on a fabric ligature.
Nuccio was using either a Francois Louis ligature or a Spriggs ligature - but definitely not fabric ...GBK
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2005-06-16 17:23
As to Drucker's equipment, he did appear to be using either a Festival or Prestige R-13 because of the silver medallion on the top joint. That "metal" ligature, by the way, certainly looked silver plated, standard equipment with the silver plated Buffet he was playing. His playing was particularly beautiful ( and well in tune) in the Firebird.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-06-16 19:51
He had more than 1 French Mistress? I thought he spread them out around the world.
It's kind of like the old yiddish (?) proverb:
"with lots of money you are very handsome and sing well."
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Author: bflatclarinetist
Date: 2005-06-16 19:56
I missed the first hour of it, I loved the Swan in Cordella (I think that's what it's called). The bassoonist beside Drucker looked like she was sucking on a lemon lol.
Thanks for the notice!
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-06-16 20:00
Judy LeClair - she studied with Shirley Curtis in Phila. and was the youngest female Bassonist ever to make a Principal job in a major orchestra.
Shirley told me that she also taught 3 out of the 4 bassonists in the Met Orchestra.
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-06-16 20:03
Who was the bass clarinet player, too bad there weren’t more shots of him. He had a nice little solo in the Dukas with the contrabassoon.
The bass looks pretty old though, with the one piece neck. Anyone know more about it or him?
Willy
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-06-16 20:34
Thanks GBK for the link.
Why don't we see manual double register keys on lower clarinets anymore? Wouldn't such mechansim eliminate/reduce much of the regulation problem on the register system?
I would think it would be easier to built and produce a better sounding instrument.
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-06-16 20:40
sorry, I would like to add that the reason I asked about manual double register key on my previous post is because Stephen Freeman's bass on last night concert was such a specimen.
Thanks and sorry for the confusion.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-06-16 21:36
Re: Manual double register vent on bass clarinets --- I added such a key and vent on a Robert Malerne bass clarinet a couple of years ago. Although I sold that instrument I did play it for a couple of weeks first, and I found that while I was slowly getting used to switching from the original thumb key to the additional key at or above clarion E, there were many passages/instances where that switch was awkward or even impossible. That, of course, is why the automatic system was invented in the first place! If you happen to also play sax, imagine having to switch register vent keys on that instrument from second-register A and above (as they had to do in the 1800s). Complexity does have its cost, but there are reliable automatic mechanisms out there and they sure to make playing easier!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-06-16 21:38
Freeman has a very old Selmer bass that, from what I have been told, is head and shoulders better than anything else. I believe it was passed on to him by his predecessor in the Philharmonic (whose name escapes me).
The instrument is old enough to have manual register keys, but I was told that he had it converted to automatic, and I'm pretty sure I saw the rods of an automatic mechanism.
Manual register keys eliminate the stiffness and unreliability of the automatic mechanism. However, the mental hazard of remembering to switch, and the thumb gymnastics involved, have made the manual system pretty much obsolete. The current Buffet and Selmer automataic mechanisms are reasonably light and reliable.
Ken Shaw
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Author: diz
Date: 2005-06-17 01:31
Hey - sorry I couldn't see the broadcast and missed the streaming.
Also - who cares a tincker's cuss what clarinet they use?? The sound is all that matters and it was, to be certain. Wonderful.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2005-06-17 23:31
I really think the best Firebird the New York phil did of this version was the Bernstein on CBS from '69...simply aweinspired etc.
As to the finest of the 1910 Version Boulez on lp from 75
on CBS outdid anything you heard on this broadcast...that lp was from New York when Boulez was as the helm. That era produced some great records but alas Boulez did not get on well with the orchestra then...
As to Drucker his is really in his element in the Stravinsky although his vibrato seemed a bit more pronounced in the slow music. I really adore his performance of this work...he knows Stravinsky so well.
Seriously though...check the lp of Boulez from CBS catalogue...it is one of the all time finest recordings of the Firebird with Drucker at his very finest.
I did like the Violin Concerto but missed part of it...
The Swan was very good, but a bit diconcerting to watch him stand in front instead of in the orchestra!
David Dow
Post Edited (2005-06-17 23:33)
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2005-06-18 13:57
In disagreement with Diz, there are many who are interested in the equipment of others...this board certainly is testament to the that as well as the many articles in the Clarinet magazine. But I am writing this to say that, by chance, I was looking up something else ( about Peter Simenauer) in a 1992 issue of The Clarinet magazine and found the following about the equipment of Stephen Freeman: " Instrument: Buffet bass clarinet #19230, built in 1955 and originally owned and used by Leon Lester of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The instrument has a removable extension joint custom-designed by Hans Moennig, who also replaced the original automatic register key with a manual one." From The Clarinet magazine, July-August 1992, Vol 19, Number 4, p.44.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-06-18 14:28
Leon was my high school Clarinet teacher!
At the time there was a lot of competition between Lesters students and Jules Serpetini's students in the Philadelphia area.
Both were really good teachers but I think Serpentini had more high profile students (such as Bill Hudgins)
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Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-06-18 19:26
D Dow wrote:
>The Swan was very good, but a bit diconcerting to watch him stand in front instead of in the orchestra!
Isn't he retiring after this season? I think that the reason why he got center stage...but I do agree that I prefer the englishhorn in the section.
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-06-18 20:47
SueSmith wrote:
> Isn't he retiring after this season? I think that the reason
> why he got center stage...but I do agree that I prefer the
> englishhorn in the section.
I don't believe Stacy has any plans for retirement. His double reed colleagues Joe Robinson (principal oboe) and one of the bassoon players, are.
Post Edited (2005-06-19 05:07)
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Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-06-19 16:37
Bump -
Chn 13 in NYC is rebroadcasting the concert now. Currently 2nd Mvt of Sibelius. Get yourselves some GREAT orchestral playing with Mark and Pascual!
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2005-06-19 22:26
I agree about Mark and Pascual.
I think Kevin was getting them mixed up when he talked about the ligature. Nuccio was using the Spriggs like GBK said.
Anyone notice how Shaham and Nuccio look alike?
I enjoyed every part of this performance. Truly some great playing, and better than their last broadcast.
Bradley
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