Sabine Meyer is regarded as one of the most outstanding soloists of
our time. It is thanks to her that the clarinet, previously
underrated as a solo instrument, has reclaimed the concert stage.
Born in Crailsheim, Sabine Meyer studied in Stuttgart under Otto
Hermann and in Hanover under Hans Deinzer. She began her career as a
member of the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. She
subsequently played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as solo
clarinettist, a position she left as she became increasingly in
demand as a solo artist.
Since then, numerous concerts and radio and television appearances
have taken her to the major musical centres of Europe, as well as to
Brazil, Canada, Africa, Israel and Australia. She performs regularly
in Japan and the USA.
Sabine Meyer can already look back over an unparalleled career as a
solo artist. Since her debut at the age of 16, she has enjoyed
success with leading orchestras both at home and abroad. She has
performed with more than 80 professional orchestras in Germany and
her track record of international appearances is unique amongst wind
soloists.
Orchestras with which she has performed include the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the London
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo NHK Symphony Orchestra, the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna
Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. In addition, she performs
regularly with the Radio Symphony Orchestras in Vienna, Basel,
Warsaw, Prague, Turin, Budapest, Brussels and Copenhagen and with
major orchestras in Spain, Italy, Holland, Japan and Switzerland.
Her repertoire as a soloist covers the pre-classical (Johann M.
Molter, Johann Stamitz), the "standard repertoire" of the clarinet
(Mozart, Weber, Nielsen, Hindemith) and the avant-garde. A number of
composers, including Manfred Trojahn and Toshio Hosokawa, have
dedicated new clarinet concertos to her. She has also rediscovered
important and previously forgotten compositions for the clarinet (Sandor
Veress, Berthold Goldschmidt).
In addition to her work as a soloist, Sabine Meyer is a committed
player of chamber music. Unlike many other stars of classical music,
she finds great value in continued long-term collaboration with
other musicians.
She has performed with many artists including Gidon Kremer, Tabea
Zimmermann, Heinrich Schiff, Oleg Maisenbery, Lars Vogt, the Vienna
String Sextet and the Hagen Quartet - with some of them for over
twenty years. She has also formed close partnerships with the
Cleveland Quartet, the Alban Berg Quartet and the Tokyo String
Quartet (with an international tour in 2001/02). Sabine Meyer also
dedicates a significant proportion of her artistic energies to her
own two ensembles, the TRIO DI CLARONE and the BLÄSERENSEMBLE SABINE
MEYER. The extent of Sabine Meyer's commitment to chamber music was
the reason that Claudio Abbado has appointed her as solo
clarinettist for the next few years with the new LUCERNE FESTIVAL
ORCHESTRA.
Sabine Meyer is also particularly interested in supporting the
performance of contemporary music both at special festivals and in
other settings. She included compositions by Isang Yun, Pierre
Boulez, Edison Denissow and Karlheinz Stockhausen in her repertoire
at the beginning of her career. It is Sabine Meyer's intention that
the BLÄSERENSEMBLE SABINE MEYER and the TRIO DI CLARONE will always
include contemporary music in their performances and, to this end,
she has commissioned and premiered numerous compositions, including
works by Jean Francaix, Edison Denissow, Toshio Hosokawa, Nicolo
Castiglioni and Aribert Reimann.
A highly
regarded CD containing five pieces dedicated to the Bläserensemble
won the ECHO PRIZE for the chamber music recording of the year in
2001. Sabine Meyer is also committed to the avant-garde in her solo
work and has premiered compositions by Harald Genzmer, Marc-André
Dalbavie, Toshio Hosokawa and Manfred Trojahn.
The artist
has enjoyed a close working relationship with EMI Classics since
1983. Her recorded works range from the pre-classical to the
avant-garde and include all the major solo concertos and chamber
music pieces written for the clarinet.
Many of these
productions have received awards. Sabine Meyer has been awarded the
prestigious ECHO PRIZE on six occasions (more often than any other
classical artist to date) by the Deutsche Phonoakademie, including
four awards for the INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR (in 1994 and 1996
for the outstanding recording of the clarinet concertos by Johann
and Carl Stamitz; in 2000 for the new recording of the Mozart
concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado, and in
2003 for a recording of virtuoso pieces by Weber and Mendelssohn).
Her Brahms Quintet with the Alban Berg Quartet and the
Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer, with modern pieces dedicated to the
ensemble, was awarded Chamber Music Recording of the Year.
In addition to her work as a concert musician, Sabine Meyer has
worked as a teacher for many years. She has held master classes in
Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan, the USA, Holland, England and
Switzerland and was appointed a professor at the Lübeck Academy of
Music in 1993. In contrast to the expectations of many music
students attending the numerous master classes held these days,
Sabine Meyer does not just aim to pass on tips and tricks of the
trade, but sets great store by solid basic training.
Together with her husband Reiner Wehle, Sabine Meyer has developed a
carefully planned, systematic training programme that specifically
addresses the issues of sound quality (embouchure, volume, tonal
colours), which are often flagrantly neglected by many modern
clarinettists. The aim of this programme is to combine the rich,
powerful sound quality of the German clarinet with the flexible
tonality of the French Boehm System. The programme places particular
emphasis on the careful selection and handling of clarinet reeds.
With a combination of melody-based games and practice, Sabine Meyer
places herself solidly in the tradition of the German clarinet
school with its complex sound, rich in harmonics.
In addition to numerous musical awards, Sabine Meyer has also
received the Niedersachsen Prize and is a member of the Hamburg
Academy of Arts.
Sabine Meyer lives in the historic town of Lübeck with her husband
Reiner Wehle - also a clarinet professor at the Lübeck Academy of
Music - and their two children Simon and Alma. Her hobbies are
cooking, reading and horse-riding. Other "members of the family"
include Oskar the German shepherd cross, four horses (Sabine Meyer
breeds horses) and several cats.
