 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2006-10-06 22:04
Her web site has a new video clip of Emma Johnson playing with a brief voice over interview.
It includes a bit of video of her as a teenager winning the 1984 Young Musican of the Year competion.
She sounds great, as usual, IMHO and looks great at 50 or so.
http://www.zadok.demon.co.uk/
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Mags1957
Date: 2006-10-06 22:24
Nice web page. She's not my favorite, but she has some impressive technique, and has brought some notoriety to the clarinet, so good for her!
BTW - no way she's 50 - she won the young performer competition in 1984 - what was she, 14 then? That puts her mid to late 30's if I'm not mistaken. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2006-10-06 22:28
Hello! Is it my computer, my tin ear or is she tuned just a little bit flat to the piano in this otherwise charming video?
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2006-10-06 22:32
E. Johnson - Born in London in 1966.
Tom Piercy
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Author: seafaris
Date: 2006-10-06 22:44
Great video. She is very impressive.
...Jim
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-10-06 22:54
Eat your heart out, Emma has captured something special about the clarinet.
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Author: eric293
Date: 2006-10-06 23:01
Yea, she has impressive technique, but her playing is sort of untasteful.
Buffet R13-M15 w/ 3 1/2-V12
Attending Interlochen Arts Academy
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2006-10-07 16:27
eric293 wrote;
"...her playing is sort of untasteful."
Almost 300,000 purchasers of her CDs don't hold with that.
From the brief snippt heard is anyone able to tell what piece she was playing at her 1994 competition?
I think her playing is good enough...but despite her platform hot dogging S. Meyer may be
incomparable?
Clarinet Redux
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Author: vin
Date: 2006-10-07 17:26
Uh, old geezer, what is popular is not always tasteful and what is tasteful is not always popular. Of course, she is some people's cup of tea, but her tone is off-putting to many American ears. It's personal, and it doesn't matter how much it has sold. Brittney Spears sells millions of records- does that make her more or less tasteful than anyone else?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-07 18:18
"Of course, she is some people's cup of tea, but her tone is off-putting to many American ears."
...and many British ears too - I don't know many people that are fans, I know I'm definitely not a fan.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: eric293
Date: 2006-10-07 22:23
Exactly my point, Kenny G. is the most known saxophone player in the world, but I can name many professional saxophonists that would play circles around him.
Buffet R13-M15 w/ 3 1/2-V12
Attending Interlochen Arts Academy
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Author: clarinetmc
Date: 2006-10-08 02:32
This topic has run its course...it is rediculous to hear so many people bad mouthing other people's playing! What if Emma Johnson is reading this? How would you feel? thanks
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Author: jack
Date: 2006-10-08 03:11
I've got several of her cd's. Her playing is more down to earth, charming, exciting and engaging to me, than many of the famous players that most of us are much more familiar with. Need I mention that I have no quarrel with her tone or the tastefulness of her playing.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-10-08 03:13
clarinetmc wrote:
> What if Emma
> Johnson is reading this? How would you feel?
People in the public eye get bad reviews all the time - it's no different here. How many times have conductors been bad-mouthed? Band directors? Where were you the last time Kenny G. was dissed here?
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Author: Marcuin
Date: 2006-10-08 11:42
I don't like her. I hate watching her playing. She has bad tone colour. She hasn't enought strange to play clarinet, hasn't she? She's probably playing at reeds strange 3...sorry
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-10-08 13:20
I'm British, and not a fan of Emma Johnson's playing, but then there are plenty of players who I don't enjoy listening to.
My main problem is that I have never been to a live performance given by her that has matched the polished nature of her recorded music. They always seem reserved and hesitant.
However, something that can be learned from Emma Johnson is something that many musicians need help with, and that's the art of self promotion. She knows how to appeal to a wide audience and to keep satisfying that audience with each disc she records or performance that she gives. To be still be selling herself on a competition win in 1984 is remarkable in my opinion, I cannot think of another winner of the same competition (except for perhaps the more recent winners...) who has successfully built a career on that win alone.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-08 13:38
I only regard her as a clarinet player, and not a clarinettist.
All that bulging tone, breathing in funny places and those strange 'fp's that crop up, not to mention an uncontrolled virato does nothing for me except turn the radio off.
Some of these factors maybe alright for playing some jazz influenced pieces, but she's not a jazz player either.
Back in about 1988 when she played at Chichester Festival Theatre, a friend of mine (studying clarinet with the same teacher as me) walked out after 10 minutes.
I'm not knocking her character as a decent human being, I just don't like her playing - it doesn't appeal to me at all. There are more clarinettists that deserve the recognition she gets.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-10-08 16:13
I just listened to Emma's performance of Voi Che Sapete at the link http://www.zadok.demon.co.uk/emmavideo.html.
I don't think you'll hear more musical playing anywhere. Just about every phrase is perfectly shaped and joined with what precedes and follows..
I don't love all of her playing, but I was enchanted by this.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2006-10-08 19:14
To produce her robust, radiant tone Emma uses
Vandoren 2 1/2 and 3 strength reeds. Along with 30 years of study and experience.
I like hearing different views of clarinetists on this board...but to compare her to Kenny G is kind of a stretch.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-08 19:36
She's not in the same league as any clarinettist worthy of the title clarinettist, and definitely not a virtuoso as a certain commercial radio station may say.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: eric293
Date: 2006-10-08 20:25
Buffet R13-M15 w/ 3 1/2-V12
Attending Interlochen Arts Academy
Post Edited (2006-10-12 00:12)
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-10-08 23:19
I hope Interlochen is able to teach their students intangibles, such as humility, vulnerability, and spiritual depth, in addition to pure technique.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-10-09 00:28
FDF wrote:
> I hope Interlochen is able to teach their students intangibles,
> such as humility, vulnerability, and spiritual depth, in
> addition to pure technique.
Some things just come with maturity.
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2006-10-09 00:48
I quite like Emma's musicianship, her phrases always have direction, her playing is charming and she makes the music really joyfull.
I think to judge her as a clarinetist and not a musician first is unfair. I feel she's a better musician than most, and a better clarinetist than most but she plays outside of most clarinetist's taste. It's just different, not better or worse. To say that she's a bad clarinetist because she doesn't match your tastes is, well, immature and ignorant I feel.
I'd love to meet her and have a long conversation about music, she seems to have some really interesting, educated views. Thanks for sharing that video.
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Author: eric293
Date: 2006-10-09 02:33
"Sometimes, the glass is upside down"-Chinese Proverb
Buffet R13-M15 w/ 3 1/2-V12
Attending Interlochen Arts Academy
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-10-09 03:21
Bravo Morrigan.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-10-09 05:51
I think she plays great on that video. I didn't hear that much from her but almost all I heard I liked very much.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2006-10-09 07:17
Perhaps a discussion of what qualities we like/dislike about a particular interpretation would be more fruitful than just saying that we find someone's playing "kind of untasteful".
I watched the video. I enjoyed Ms Johnson's phrasing and the subtle balance between dynamics and timing (eg. the very short hesitation before a subito piano and the corresponding change in colour). I didn't like sudden "bulges" in the sound <> which sounded too sudden and stuck out too much from the otherwise beautiful legato line. I also didn't like the sudden drops in pitch that sometimes occured with the vibrato. But it's difficult to tell if the bulges and pitch variations were partly caused by the low reproduction quality of the recording on video.
Post Edited (2006-10-09 10:24)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-09 10:24
"I also didn't like the sudden drops in pitch that sometimes occured with the vibrato. But it's difficult to tell if the bulges and pitch variations were partly caused by the low reproduction quality of the recording on video."
No, she does this ALL the time.
I know I'd get crucified for doing this by my clarinet teacher (and my oboe teacher as well), but it makes you wonder how she's getting away with what seems like murder.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-10-09 11:07
i recieved abusive email from a recording artist that i dissed on this Bulletin Board, but i imagine Ms Johnson has more class than that!
You can like or dislike a performer, and i reckon it's healthy to express this if it's done in a way that makes if clear you have perspective on the importance of your opinion. But one thing that i think often makes me unreasonably judgemental and annoyed is when i hear successful players doing things that i know i can't get away with..... at least if i want to keep getting hired.... (ie tone/articulation that i know wouldn't be acceptable in the musical environment i inhabit).
keep playing the good tunes
donald
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Author: graham
Date: 2006-10-09 15:01
One of the problems with knowing how an instrument "ought to sound", be it as regards tone, phrasing, or tuning (yes, even tuning) is that you are going naturally to err on the side of conservatism. You are more readily offended than the person who comes to it without that background. Emma Johnson seems cavalier with the basics (which I agree can cause pain to many including me) but she has often taken a sledge hammer to norms with considerable effect. She dares to be bold, the lack of which is often a weakness of the clarinet playing fraternity.
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Author: eric293
Date: 2006-10-09 17:25
But, where do you draw the line of "Being bold" and what the composer would have wanted.
Buffet R13-M15 w/ 3 1/2-V12
Attending Interlochen Arts Academy
Post Edited (2006-10-09 21:24)
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2006-10-09 17:37
Eric, what makes you think that "being bold" and "what the composer would have wanted" are mutually exclusive?
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2006-10-11 10:58
To be quite honest....(without discussing the video) I find all instruments in someway have a pitch or area on the instrument that pitch wise is always dicey..
.for example flutes in the upper register always seem to play a bit sharp where clarinets are flat...bassoons defintely have notes that are quite a bit flat like the low Eb concert note or the oboe has notes like the open C sharp that are just wild to tune...
so all in all I don't find too much offensive about Emma Johnson except that her timbre in some areas not my ideal...but hey if anyone can play the clarinet perfectly they can't be of planet earth..!!! Believe me there are alot of players out there who think they have invented the instrument.
But once again there are so many players who are technically fine but boring as heck...so again the lesson may be to learn to play with a wider palette of expression....
David Dow
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Author: DressedToKill
Date: 2006-10-11 11:26
If your oboist is playing C# open, then it SHOULD be out of tune, since that's not how you play C# on the oboe (The oboe has no "open" note)
I find Emma's sound to be a bit bright for my personal liking, although she has great technique and phrases wonderful, but then again...she's famous, rakes in a gazillion dollars for playing the clarinet, and doesn't really CARE what I (or anyone here, probably) thinks about her clarinet playing when she checks her bank balance.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-11 12:41
"The oboe has no "open" note"
Some European oboists have the top fingerplate fully opening (not screwed down almost closed) and use the open C# freely - I remember a Sicilian oboist trying my Yamaha oboe out several years back, he did the opening of the Strauss concerto (and circular breathed the lot - and also showed me how to circular breath too) and couldn't get on with two factors: the added thumbplate (which I wedged down so he could get around it easier) and the top fingerplate was closed down with a tiny amount of movement - he liked to take the C#s as an open note in fast passages. And on several French-made oboes d'amore and cors anglais the top plate is fully open and has no adjustment to close it down for us lot that like the top plate closed - so it's keywork surgery for us.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-10-11 13:19
"If thats the kind of tone you admire, you probably shouldn't be playing the clarinet."
Well, that got my attention, but it sure smells bad.
Bob Draznik
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Author: DressedToKill
Date: 2006-10-11 13:22
Oh, well who uses that silly thumplate system anyway? *grin*
In Gillet Land, we don' have no steenkin' open note...(fast passages are another thing entirely, though...I myself have been guilty of playing the C# as open in fast runs, but I really try to avoid it, because it sounds god-awful)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-11 13:41
I only use the thumbplate for arpeggios and tremolos that can be done easier on dual system than pure conservatoire or TP - but always play Bb and C as conservatoire as the timbre is much more resonant with RH 1 closed.
I've taken an XL oboe d'amore home for the week, so I'm enjoying playing it while I can - sadly none of the orchestras in the area are doing Sinfonia Domestica or Somerset Rhapsody otherwise I'd be well in there!
Now, back to Emma Johnson - is she the first name that springs to mind whenever the subject of British clarinet players arises? And do you all think we all play like that in the UK?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-10-11 14:03
"Now, back to Emma Johnson - is she the first name that springs to mind whenever the subject of British clarinet players arises? And do you all think we all play like that in the UK?"
No, and no. There isn't one player that if all players in the UK (or wherever) sounded like them it wouldn't be boring. Although I think it is nice that one person sounds like Emma Johnson.
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2006-10-11 22:50
"Although I think it is nice that one person sounds like Emma Johnson."
EXACTLY!!!!!!
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2006-10-11 23:59
Well maybe I will open a can of worms here, but the British school is quite varied among it's players...Tony Pay is an very straight laced sort of player who used no vibrato..historically you have Frederick Thurston who had a very narrow focused tone with no vibrato and throw in Reginald Kell who wobbled on just about every note and you have an idea of individuality of sound on the clarinet.
sad to say folks..the American school has about the same breadth of variety at the moment as well...You have Drucker in New York with a very big bright sound with a varied set of colours...in Cleveland I believe Mr. Cohen has a very narrow dark sound with great control..in Chicago you have the very warm dark sound of the Chicago symphony section but head over to Los Angeles and you got the rather germanic sound of Zukovsky and the LA section.
As to pitch opera singer get away with things us wind players would never dream of!!!
David Dow
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-10-12 02:46
I have a few of Emma's CDs... they are so readily available and inexpensive on some labels. Why not own them - whether you like her or not - even if to just compare to another recording of the same work?
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-12 11:24
I'd rather have CDs I can listen to without cringing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-10-12 16:42
I strongly dislike all aspects of Emma Johnson's playing...... There are so many people in the world superior to her and far less famous.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2006-10-12 22:30
I strongly like many aspects of Emma Johnson's
playing...not many in the world her equal, let alone superior.
Old Geezer
R13 Vintage M13,M15,M40 2 1/2,3 Any old reed
Alumnus "Interlochen National Music Camp"
circa 1947.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Chris22311
Date: 2006-10-13 19:01
Are you guys done?
Suprised an old geezer has the insecurities to respond to the immature comment of interlochen students.
Chris
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2006-10-13 21:18
Good God...can anyone add anything more of substance to this thread?????!!!!
May the great clarinet bulletin board god in his great benevolence mercifully intercede and deliver us his children from our wanton folly!!! AMEN!!!!!
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2006-10-13 23:45
Well,this thread makes buy one of her CD.
I'll see who has similar taste .
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Author: kev182
Date: 2006-10-14 17:51
I'm sure if any of you have listened to Emma's recording of the Mozart Concerto, you would not think the same way about her.
Old Geezer-
"I think her playing is good enough."
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Author: FDF
Date: 2006-10-14 22:22
I listened to her recording, and I think she plays the clarinet in a way that is not what many of us would aspire to, but I must recognize her musicality as a legitimate expression of our instrument.
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