Author: GBK
Date: 2017-03-30 23:22
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> I disagree with echi85's contention that the principal clarinet
> position "shapes how the orchestra is thought of". I'd bet you
> that no more than a handful of the audience members for any
> give Cleveland concert even know who that person is, much less
> care. And NONE of them could tell one clarinetist from the
> other section members if blindfolded. The only things that
> matter to 99.99% of the audiences, I would bet, are what music
> the group is playing that night, and who the overpaid
> jet-sitting histrionic rock star on the podium happens to be.
Exactly right, Dave
The CONDUCTOR shapes the sound of the orchestra (Ormandy/Philadelphia, Solti/Chicago, etc...), not an individual principal ... especially clarinet.
With the overflowing pool of virtuoso clarinetists available (many with years of pro orchestra experience), if an orchestra can't find a satisfactory principal it just smells of pretentious snobbery.
...GBK
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