Buzzing Reed- Classical Music & Clarinet Culture

To sum up the Columbus Symphony Orchestra 2008-2009 Winter season, the following is a chronological review of our guest conductors (who were also music director candidates), along with my personal opinions of them.

DAVID LOCKINGTON, music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1999, and the Modesto Symphony in CA since 2007, conducted Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony with us. He didn’t seem to make a lasting impression on me or the orchestra. Lockington seemed detached from the music and its emotions, though the orchestra, in our usual fashion, added what was missing and played well, despite not having played together for months.

EDWIN OUTWATER, music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, led us in Beethoven 8th Symphony, a Mozart piano concerto and David Diamond’s Rounds for Strings. He is known for his innovative programming ideas, as that program showed. His abilities off the podium are also impressive. But the orchestra had trouble playing well under his guidance. Beethoven’s 8th is very tricky for conductors, with “in the cracks” tempos and style, neither here nor there. Too slow and it’s logy, too fast and it’s comical. Outwater tried too hard to make the music his own, in my opinion, rather than letting it develop on its own with our help.

French Canadian JEAN-MARIE ZEITOUNI, who conducts Les Violons di Roi, conducted Rossini’s Semiramis Overture, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, Elgar Violin Concerto. If you read this blog regularly, you know my opinion of him. (I wrote about him HERE and also HERE and HERE.)

If we need to hire someone young and upcoming to save money, Zeitouni is our man. He is brilliant, speaking some 7 languages. His ear is excellent. It’s rare that a conductor will suggest pitch corrections to orchestra members, knowing the potential backlash, especially if they’re wrong. But Zeitouni had the confidence to do so, successfully.

Though much of the music was new to him, we wouldn’t know it by working with him. He sized up the pieces and their necessary rehearsal structure without blinking.

The Semiramis Overture of Rossini is notoriously difficult both for conductor and orchestra. He didn’t baby us with his tempos, asking for “Toscanini” speeds. But he also kept the players from rushing their parts, a great temptation in fast tempos. (funny, you’d think the opposite would be true, to drag when asked to play fast, but that’s not usually the case)

In one short conversation I had with him, he told me he had sized up the situation in Columbus as well, and already knew how he would proceed if he were asked to head the CSO.

Several key players in our orchestra predict a star-studded career for Jean-Marie Zeitouni. I agree. With his gifts, his relative lack of experience won’t slow him down.

The music director from the San Diego Symphony, YAHYA LING, took the driver’s seat for Dvorak 8th and the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto, soloist Emmanuel Ax. Ling is the real thing: calm, sure, stable. He inspired us with detailed analysis of the music’s style and performance tradition. Having worked with the Cleveland Orchestra for many years, he has inherited their great tradition.

THIERRY FISCHER did a French program (Debussy Noctunes, Frank D minor Symphony). I was very impressed with him. His European training and upbringing molded him into an effective and confident musician. Unfortunately, along with that high tradition came some professional condescension and patronizing, not a good way to win respect in our Midwestern culture.

Hailing form Mexico, via private schooling in England and New York, ALONDRA DE LA PARRA recently formed her own orchestra in NYC- Philharmonic of the Americas, which features new music and players from the American Continent. She also did a 20th Century program with us, Jennifer Higdon’s stunning and relatively new Concerto for Orchestra, Copland Danza Cubano and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. In my review of that week, I barely mentioned de la Parra, instead focusing on Higdon’s music, which I LOVE.

De la Parra donned a smartly tailored suit with sparkling rhinestone buttons in the performance. She is certainly impressive to watch, and seemed to have the undivided attention of all the men in the orchestra (and perhaps the audience). Her astounding confidence was infectious.

But her confidence was not infectious enough to help us navigate some very dicey rhythms in Copland’s Danza Cubano. When she sang the rhythms to us in demonstration, they were extremely fast and rushed, surely not the way she wanted us to play them. Several orchestra members, including myself, went to speak to her about the critical importance of rhythmic stability to keep the ensemble together. Luckily she listened. But it left me wondering.

In the piano concerto, de la Parra had trouble following the soloist, at times stepping on his toes with an orchestral entrance after a piano solo section. During some orchestra tutti passages with solo lines, de la Parra seemed impatient for the music to happen faster than it was. It left us uneasy, not a productive feeling for seasoned players capable of so much.

Overall, her verve and style created a very exciting performance.

Finally, GEORGE MANAHAN ended our season with a bang, or I should say, a fateful knocking at the door. He directed us in Beethoven Leonore #3, the Piano Concerto #3, and the 5th Symphony.

Manahan is my kind of conductor: experienced, knowledgeable, efficient, clear, respectful and also worthy of respect. And the cherry on top? He achieves exciting performances.

Friends of mine who regularly attend our concerts told me how great the orchestra sounded, how well he followed the soloist, and how exciting the overall effect was.

A decade of running the NYC Opera has honed his extensive experience running a large arts organization in the US. He’s also an American who regularly conducts and runs American orchestras. He knows how they tick, inside and out.

Listen to his interview with Christopher Purdy HERE, to hear him speak. He is confident, informative and interesting.

So, don’t let me sway you. Who would you pick for our next music director?

So I don’t appear out of touch. Here’s a great tribute to Mr. Drucker, retiring from the NY Phil. after 60 years service.

To me, Drucker IS the Corigliano Clarinet Concerto! (written for him) If you haven’t heard his version, get it. I first heard him perform it in a broadcast when I was eighteen.

A few months ago I stumbled on an lecture/article from the International Clarinet Society archives which I shared briefly, but did not write about. It’s worth reviewing and quoting here because it outlines the map to becoming a great player.

In today’s über-competitive music world, students must consider the mountain they are climbing. You cannot just be talented, or just work hard, or just have a good teacher. You must have all these, plus a vision of what you wish to become.

A failing of many students these days is to ignore the traditions and accomplishments of great players of the past. Most students take for granted all the modern tools they have at their disposal, such as recordings, electronic metronomes, tuners, machine made mouthpieces, numerous reed and reed tool choices, lots of great teachers, plus the added benefit of books on how athletes train, and the Alexander Technique for how to use the Self. 50 ears ago, recordings were a luxury. Now they are ubiquitous and accessible with a click of a finger.

Few or none of these existed 100 years ago, yet some players broke through the crowd to map new territory for their instrument’s technique. How did they stand out? Were they simply geniuses? Lucky?

On the contrary, they worked their asses off PLUS they thought outside the box. They didn’t just settle for being the best. Instead they created a whole new level of “best” for everyone else to match.

Students these days often wait for a teacher to solve all their problems for them. If not, the teacher must not be good enough. I try to teach students to identify, isolate and solve their own problems, with my guidance.

The article/lecture outlines and details five traits of truly revolutionary players. Though many of the descriptions are somewhat obvious and mundane, the basic message is clear.

Great players set their goals high and broad, then find a way to fill in all the details through patience and perseverance.

Here is the introduction, including the five traits:

This lecture explains why it is important for musicians to study the greats of the past, understand what made them stand out from their peers and how to apply these traits to themselves. Through brief profiles of Carl Baermann, Ernesto Cavallini and Buddy DeFranco, 5 traits are introduced which today’s musicians can develop to improve their musicianship and artistry. Also included is an article called Internalizing the Music which describes the process of learning that these great players go through when practicing.

Five Traits for Today’s Musicians to Develop:

1. Playing with spirit and emotion
2. Having a deep theoretical, historical and overall knowledge of music
3. Playing with flawless technical command of instrument
4. Developing an individual style and sound
5. Internalizing the music

My views follow-

1. Play with spirit and emotion- Why are you a musician? What does music do for you? If your answer is “Because I love music.”, then why? Keep asking, and when you get to more questions than answers, you are ready to begin the real search for spirit and emotion in music. Listen to every recording of the Mozart Concerto, or whatever piece represents your instrument for you, and pick your favorite one, or two. Then ask yourself as you listen, “Why does this appeal to me?” and/or “What would I do differently?”.

2. Have a deep theoretical, historical and overall knowledge of music- This search becomes obvious after pondering the first trait.

3. Play with flawless technical command of instrument- keyword “mastery”. It’s not about getting the notes, it’s about playing the instrument as easily as you walk (which can be an exploration itself). A lot of soul searching is required to face this minefield path. Patience, perseverance, and intelligent problem solving are the keys. Without such exploration, injury and limiting habits are guaranteed. Again, use questions to guide you. “What is causing this technical limitation?” The answer is not merely “more practice”, but instead “more practice with better understanding of causes”. The cause is often far removed from the symptom, and may stem from mis-use of your whole self. Great players mine these questions with scientific precision and patience, though they may not broadcast it.

4. Develop an individual style and sound- Don’t copy; emulate. Marcellus told me that many of his students suffered because they tried to sound like him (including me). Trusting your own internal concept takes courage. You may not sound the way you want right away. But don’t give up and return to imitation. I again suggest listening critically to many recordings to create your own “recipe” for sound and style.

5. Internalize the music- Cipolla offers a number of suggestions for doing this. I recommend memorizing a passage almost immediately to engage the more primal memory of the body. I also recommend singing passages to train your ear. (this is especially important for wind players, who, unlike string players, can more or less “push a button” and get a note without hearing it first.

The lecture/article is called Historical Perspectives of Excellence for Clarinetists, by John Cipolla, from the ICA ClarinetFest® 1999, Oostend, Belgium, July 10th, 1999.

Go read it now. Then practice with a new attitude.

I’ve been thinking about previous teachers recently. I was practicing some excerpts when I turned to a xerox of Till Eulenspiegel and saw the signature of Alan Balter at the top.

I took a few lessons with Alan during the 80′s while I still lived in Washington, DC. Though I had graduated from Northwestern U in 1982, having studied with Marcellus and Brody there, Balter taught me some things I never got from any other teacher.

When I played a note perfect Mendelssohn Scherzo for him, he commented how well I had played it, and then said it was missing one key element of the music, its dance like quality.

He encouraged me to learn to “spin the air” as I played, which freed up my air for more expressive subtlety, and also for a touch of vibrato when I desired it.

He helped me focus on the quality of motion of my right hand index finger, the weakest link in my finger technique.

I still apply these ideas and others to my playing and teaching to this day. I will always be thankful for what he taught me.

Unfortunately, I cannot thank him personally. Alan Balter passed away in 1998 from complications caused by some disease he had battled for over a decade.

He played 8 seasons as principal clarinet of the Atlanta Symphony and then went on to conduct after winning the MIN-ON International Concours for Conductors in 1976.