 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: weberfan
Date: 2009-04-05 20:46
A brief report from New York on yesterday's Philharmonic matinee. I happened to glance at an ad about two weeks ago and couldn't believe my luck: Mozart's clarinet quintet, with Stanley Drucker and a great line-up of NYPhil string players, including Eileen Moon on cello.
Followed by Charles Dutoit conducting a crowd-pleaser: Tchaikovsky's Fifth, also featuring Stanley Drucker...and great second-movement horn playing by Philip Myers.
And lastly, an hour-long talk with Stanley Drucker and bassist John Deak, commemorating the 60-year Drucker tenure. At the end, there were a few questions from the audience, some from very young, budding clarinetists. Almost everyone addressed him as Stanley.
He had with him a sheet of paper on which he'd written some anecdotes about the legendary conductors he's played for.
The one that got one of the biggest laughs, and which some of you may have heard before, concerns a Philharmonic performance at the White House in honor of Indira Gandhi. (Zubin Mehta was music director at the time.)
Afterward, Stanley said, the musicians were invited to a grand reception, at which President Reagan moved about the ballroom striking up conversations here and there. He approached a group of three, including Stanley, who related this exchange between the President and the musician in the center of the group.
Reagan: And what instrument do you play?
Musician: I play the violin.
RR: The violin! And where did you study?
Musician: At Juilliard.
RR: Juilliard. Hmm. How's their football team?
To be fair, Stanley said, he thought the President might have been cracking a joke. But he wasn't sure. John Deak put in that when he was at Juilliard, the football team was awful.
Jokes aside, the music was wonderful. I wish you all could have heard the quintet.
P.S. The concert was a sellout, and it wasn't just old-timers' day either. Every age group was well represented.
Post Edited (2009-04-05 20:53)
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