 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Noodler100
Date: 2026-08-26 13:59
Hi all, has anyone ever tried to play the opening of this? I’ve seen versions with trills on the quavers which at the speed played is virtually unplayable. The original score just has straight quavers and every recording I’ve ever heard appears to play straight quavers. I’ve also seen some versions with mordents written with articulated quavers which is equally unplayable. Has anyone played this live in an Opera and able to say what is standard in the profession for playing this opening? Thank you!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2026-08-26 15:35
What I would say is that many standard "bravura" excerpts can be daunting to "impossible" for the less advanced player. Also this is one that assumes a quick tongue. There are many of us who love playing but will never have a quick tongue to match the demands of excerpts like this (many many like this in Rossini, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, etc).
Don't be shy about playing this SLOWLY to just get the idea of the jauntiness as well as the notes. Then, if tonguing is the stumbling block, developing a double tongue technique is a REQUIREMENT for those of us (me too) who cannot begin to play this one with a single tongue technique.
I heartily recommend ALL that is said here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoInFr4b8kQ
Just be patient. It takes some time to develop good double tonguing.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Noodler100
Date: 2026-08-26 16:29
Thanks Paul. My question is more one of style I think. It’s about dotted crotchet = 150 with a trill on the first quaver…when I listen to recordings I just don’t hear anyone in the orchestra play the trills. So my question is more one of interpretation really…does anyone actually play those trills at this speed??! Thanks!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-08-26 16:56
Noodler100 wrote:
> Hi all, has anyone ever tried to play the opening of this?
> I’ve seen versions with trills on the quavers which at the
> speed played is virtually unplayable. The original score just
> has straight quavers and every recording I’ve ever heard
> appears to play straight quavers. I’ve also seen some
> versions with mordents written with articulated quavers which
> is equally unplayable. Has anyone played this live in an Opera
> and able to say what is standard in the profession for playing
> this opening? Thank you!
FWIW, I've played it, though in concert and not as part of the full opera. I play the written version and never had a conductor ask for anything else. But I'm certainly not an authority. You'd probably get a more complete answer to your question - what is the standard practice for performing this overture - by going to YouTube and listening to the recordings. How editors gussy it up in their versions doesn't really establish anything about performance practice, particularly if all the versions are different.
Karl
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Author: Noodler100
Date: 2026-08-26 18:08
Thanks Karl. Just to check though, it's not the overture but this bit attached in the Cavatina Figaro (also called Largo al Factotum).
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Author: Noodler100
Date: 2026-08-26 18:11
Attachment: Image 26-08-2026 at 15.00.png (308k)
Thanks Karl. Just to check though, it's not the overture but this bit attached in the Cavatina Figaro (also called Largo al Factotum). It's the 2nd bar specifically. Maybe I'm useless (!!) but I struggle to play as written at the tempo required and it leads me to think that there must be an understanding that actually "we play it without the trills"?!? ie that's the tradition....? Thanks!
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Author: GoldhawkRoad
Date: 2026-08-26 21:48
This is definitely a hard one. I'd have to try it, but I think a trill is doable on this, just one because of the speed. On the tempo for this, I'd say I've heard 126-138. You said 150 earlier, but I haven't heard it played that fast.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-08-26 22:31
Oh! Well, this also appears often on concert programs. The opening trill isn't a problem whether you play it on a C clarinet or transpose it to a Bb. The eighth notes can be done with a single flip, which isn't hard to fit in. It can only go so fast if a vocal soloist is involved - there are words to be sung.
The signs over the eighth-notes after the tune starts, in the Ricordi edition I see on IMSLP, are mordents - single flips, not trills. Start to practice the solos at a workable tempo and then move the tempo gradually faster.
Karl
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-08-26 23:43
GoldhawkRoad wrote:
> You said 150
> earlier, but I haven't heard it played that fast.
We haven't nailed down whether the OP is playing this in a band or in an orchestra and whether with or without the baritone soloist.
Some community orchestra conductors would tend to do this very fast if the solo were being covered by an instrument. Community band conductors often take unreasonably fast tempi with transcriptions because, well, they only have to move their arms or wrists.
Karl
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