Kurt Masur, the German
conductor who led the New York Philharmonic orchestra for 11 years, died on
Saturday. He was 88.
Matthew VanBesien, president of the New York Philharmonic, issued a
statement on Saturday in which he said: “Maestro Masur’s 11-year tenure, one
of the longest in the Philharmonic’s history, both set a standard and left a
legacy that lives on today.”
Masur was born in Brieg, Germany – now Brzeg, Poland – on 18 July 1927, and
served in the Wehrmacht during the second world war. He made his musical
career and his name in East Germany and as a public figure played a key role
in the avoidance of bloodshed around the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
reunification of the country.
Masur later said “blood would have flowed” on 9 October 1990, if he and five
others – a satirist, a cleric and three party officials – hadn’t banded
together and issued a public statement calling for calm and promising
dialogue. Security forces and troops were massed in the streets and young
people “were ready to die”, he said.
Masur spent 26 years leading the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and conducted
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the celebration of German reunification.
He was director of the Philharmonic from 1991, a year after German
reunification, to 2002. The terror attacks of 11 September 2001 occurred
during his tenure in
New York.
“What we remember most vividly is Masur’s profound belief in music as an
expression of humanism,” VanBesien said in his statement.
“We felt this powerfully in the wake of 9/11, when he led the Philharmonic
in a moving performance of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, and musicians
from the Orchestra gave free chamber concerts around Ground Zero.
“Today, New Yorkers still experience this humanist mark through the popular
Annual Free Memorial Day Concert, which he introduced.”
The current music director, Alan Gilbert, said: “Masur’s years at the New
York Philharmonic represent one of its golden eras, in which music-making
was infused with commitment and devotion – with the belief in the power of
music to bring humanity closer together.”
Masur also worked with orchestras around the world, including the London
Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France. In July 2007, he marked
his 80th birthday by conducting the two orchestras together at a concert in
London.
After his retirement as director of the New York Philharmonic, he became
only the second man, after Leonard Bernstein, to be given an honorary title
– in his case, music director emeritus. He was given official honours in the
US, France, Poland and Germany.
12 December 2017
Harry Sparnaay - Legend Bass Clarinetist and
Renowned Proponent of New Music for this Instrument - In Memoriam
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Harry Sparnaay studied at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam with Ru Otto.
After graduating with a performer's degree for clarinet he specialized in bass
clarinet. Today he ranks among the world's distinguished bass clarinet players.
He has played solo at numerous music festivals all over the wordl such as
Warsaw, New York, Los Angeles, Zagreb, the Holland Festival, several ISCM
Festivals, Madrid, Paris and Athens. Other festival include those of Witten,
Aarhus, Como, Bolzano, Naples, Torino, Bourges, Middelburg, Graz, Salzburg,
Huddersfield, Saarbrücken, Royan and Houston.
Sparnaay has been a featured performer with many major orchestra's and ensembles
including the ASKO Ensemble, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio
Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Ensemble
Intercontemporain, Ensemble 2E2M, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Radio
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Schönberg ensemble and the Seymour Group, and has appeared with
leading conductors including Luciano Berio, Riccardo Chailly, Richard Dufallo,
Peter Eötvös, Reinbert de Leeuw, Diego Masson, Jacques Mercier, David Porcelijn,
David Stock, Lucas Vis, Hans Vonk and Mark Summerbell.
He has given concerts and made radio recordings all over Europe, North and South
America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, performing works written for
and dedicated to him. Over 500 compositions were written for him by composers
such as Claudio Ambrosini, Luciano Berio, Gerard Brophy, Paul-Heinz Dittrich,
Franco Donatoni, Morton Feldman, Brian Ferneyhough, Gérard Grisey, Mary
Finsterer, Andrew Ford, Jonathan Harvey, Maki Ishii, Sukhi Kang, Tristan Keuris,
Mark Kopytman, Helmut Lachenmann, Ton de Leeuw, Theo Loevendie, Roderik de Man,
Michael Smetanin, Maurice Weddington, Iannis Xenakis, Isang Yun, Andrés
Lewin-Richter, Nino Díaz, Hans Joachim Hespos and many others. His own
composition BOUWSTENEN for bass clarinet and multiple tape delay was selected
for the ISCM World music Days in Denmark.
For many years Harry Sparnaay was professor of bass clarinet and contemporary
music at the Conservatoires of Amsterdam and Utrecht where his unique bass
clarinet programme attracted students from all over the world, many of them
prize winners during major competitions. He has also been musician-in-residence
and has given masterclasses at several universities.
Sparnaay played the world première of IN FREUNDSCHAFT and SOLO (adaptation for
bass- and contra bass clarinet by Barry Anderson) by Karlheinz Stockhausen and
was one of the soloists in DIE VERWANDLUNG van Paul-Heinz Dittrich and in the
opera's NAIMA by Theo Loevendie, PROMETEO by Luigi Nono and A KING, RIDING by
Klaas de Vries. During the Holland Festival 1999 he was one of the instrumental
soloists in KOPERNIKUS by Claude Vivier.
Harry Sparnaay founded the Bass Clarinet Collective (9 bass clarinets, including
3 contrabass clarinets) and with pianist Polo de Haas the duo Fusion Moderne
which was awarded the fifth prize during the International Gaudeamus Performers
Competition in 1972. Together with flautist Harrie Starreveld and pianist René
Eckhardt he founded in 1982 Het Trio . For this group over 180 compositions were
written in the meantime. With harpsichordist Annelie de Man he founded
Double_Action and with his wife, organist Silvia Castillo, the Duo Levent .
He
has recorded more than sixty cd's as a soloist, with Het Trio and in other
combinations. The Trio 's recording of works by Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw
received an Edison Award in 1995. His television productions have been broadcast
in the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and former Yugoslavia. Several times he was
a jury member at the International Gaudeamus Performers Competition and he also
served as a member of the Dutch section of the ISCM, the International Society
for Contemporary Music.
He
conducted the Ensemble for New Music of the Conservatoire of Amsterdam in works
by Arnold Schönberg, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Olivier Messiaen, Theo
Loevendie, Franco Donatoni, Joe Cutler, Toshio Hosokawa, Mary Finsterer and
Iannis Xenakis and during the International Gaudeamus Music Week he regularly
conducts ensembles in works by the youngest generation. From 2005 he is
professor for bass clarinet and chambermusic at the ESMUC in Barcelona.
Harry
Sparnaay plays the new model Prestige GreenLine bass clarinet by Buffet Crampon
and he plays on RICO bass clarinet reeds.
His book
"Harry Sparnaay - the bass clarinet - a personal history" published by Periferia
Music in Barcelona (www.periferiamusic.com) is received worldwide with great
enthusiasm. See for all the comments: http://www.harrysparnaay.info/book.htm
1972 First prize International Gaudeamus Performers Competition
1985 Swedish Record Prize (music by Arne Mellnäs)
1987 Bulgariona Composers Union award
1988 Inaugural Sounds Australian Award
1995 Edison Award (music by Ton de Leeuw)
1996 Jan van Gilse Award (given by the Dutch Association of Composers)
Reviews:
At certain moments in the history of an instrument, a single player
comes along and opens a whole can of worms.
Such is the case with Harry Sparnaay , the Dutch virtuoso whose
astounding facility on the bass clarinet has inspired such
heavyweights as Iannis Xenakis, Isang Yun, Morton Feldman and Brian
Ferneyhough (along with some 400 other composers)
to write works specifically for him.
CHICAGO READER - John Corbett
What Sparnaay demands from his instrument, the limitless fantasy with
which he again and again discovers
new timbral possibilities is unique in music history.
ARGENTINIAN DAILY - E.A.Alleman
The star of the evening was the Dutch bass clarinet virtuoso Harry
Sparnaay ,
who extracted from his instrument the whole scale of sound shadows.
The best presentation of the first part of the festival.
GAZETA W KARKOWIE - Jowita Dziedzic
The sounds the bass clarinet can make are too grand for our human
dimension........It was an astonishing expansion of the sonic
capabilities of the bass clarinet and the audience in the Hugh Lane
Gallery marvelled at the skill of the players.
(together with CONCORDE Ensemble under Jane O'Leary )
THE IRISH TIMES - Douglas Sealy
El clarinetista bajo holandés Harry Sparnaay está considerado como el
mejor en su género en todo el mundo
DIAS DE MUSICA CONTEMPORANEA - Tomás Marco
Sparnaay is a virtuoso of the top flight, as accomplished in
conventional scores as in pieces demanding more theatricality.
His performance was equally extraordinary.
Sparnaay's recital proved the most rewarding of the Festival. A
fascinating programme. ( Huddersfield Festival)
FINANCIAL TIMES - Andrew Clements
Sparnaay has been feted as a musician with boundless imagination and a
technique to match and it would be fair to say that
what this clarintetist can do with seemingly little effort or room for
breathing takes your own breath away.
CITY TRIBUNE/GALWAY - Carmel Vesey
Parmi les interprètes on retiendra un remarquable clarinettiste basse
néerlandais: Harry Sparnaay .
( Music Festival of Athens )
LE MONDE - Gérard Condé
Music needs people like Harry Sparnaay . His skills as a specialist in
bass clarinet render comment superfluous. The concert
must be counted among the finest hours of the longrunning annual series.
THE IRISH TIMES - Martin Adams
The most impresive performance of this electronic program, however,
came from a flesh and blood musician, the Dutch bass clarinettist Harry
Sparnaay ,
who was the virtuoso Harry of " Harry's Wonderland " by André Laporte.
THE NEW YORK TIMES - Donald Henehan
Flashes of genius from guest bass clarinettist Harry Sparnaay ,
most impressively in Swedish composer Klas Torstensson's SPANS.
THE IRISH TIMES - Michael Dervan
Maybe the bass clarinet has been waiting all these years for Harry
Sparnaay.
TORONTO STAR - William Littler
5 December 2017
Dennis Smylie - Renowned Clarinetist and Bass
Clarinetist in New York and proponent supporter of New Music - In Memoriam
New York City USA
Dennis Smylie received his bachelor and master of music degrees from Julliard,
where he studied with Joseph Allard. His other teachers included Alfred Zetzer, Stephen Freeman, Kalmen
Opperman and Bill Street. Mr. Smylie served as a member of the Westchester
Philharmonic, the American Symphony, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic and also
performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York City
Ballet and Opera, Buffalo Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, St. Louis and Montreal symphonies, and Speculum
Musicae. Mr. Smylie was the bass clarinet soloist in the premiere performance
and recording of Donald Martino's Triple Concerto. He has given recitals and
lectures/performances at the Juilliard School, Oberlin, Yale, Princeton, Kent
State University, and Florida State University, as well as in Aspen, Weill
Recital Hall, Symphony Space, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mr. Smylie has
recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch, New World Records, CRI, RCA, and
Virgin Classics.
He has given
recitals and lectures/performances at Julliard, Oberlin, Yale, Princeton, Kent
State University, Florida State University as well as in Aspen, Weill Recital
Hall, The Symphony Space and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has been on the
faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Dennis Smylie was honored with the Steinhardt Award for
Excellence in Music on May 3, 2015, at the New Music Ensemble concert in the
Frederick Loewe Theatre. Professor Esther Lamneck presented the
award recognizing the bass clarinetist's distinguished career, including more
than a decade of service on the Woodwind faculty at NYU Steinhardt.
22 November 2017
Ted Cole - Renowned Orchestral and Chamber Music Clarinetist - Former
Principal Clarinetist in the Orquestra Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, New
Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra in NY - In Memoriam
It is with deep sadness that the family of Ted Cole announces that Ted
passed away in the Palliative Care Unit of Mount Sinai Hospital on November 22,
2017 after an acute battle with advanced heart failure and chronic restrictive
cardiomyopathy.
Ted was a master classical clarinetist, graduating from the Peabody Institute
(Johns Hopkins) in 1976 and then studying at The Cleveland Institute in 1977.
In high school he began studying with renowned clarinet teacher Leon Russionoff
of NYC. For many years, he studied with Franklin Cohen principal clarinetist of
the Cleveland Orchestra. He was the Principal Clarinetist in the Orquestra
Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico from 1977-1983. He returned to the U.S. and
freelanced for orchestras in the tri-state area for many years.
Ted developed a second career as a computer software developer, analyst, IT
Director and Data Architect and worked for non profits such as Parlimentarians
Global Action, Planned Parenthood of NYC (1988-2000) and in the last 17 years at
Young Adult Institute (YAI) in New York.
Ted and his wife Lorraine moved to Maplewood, New Jersey with their then
18-month-old daughter Sonya in 1997. While in Maplewood, Ted was actively
involved in community organizations. Most notably he served on the Grants
Committee and later as president of the
Achieve Foundation, an organization that provides funds to support
innovative programs for teachers and students in the public school district of
South Orange and Maplewood, NJ.
During the same time, he continued to play clarinet with a variety of chamber
groups and orchestras including the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra in NY. He
also found a musical home at St. George’s Church in Maplewood where he performed
with other classical musicians playing for chorales, musicals and a concert
series. He is described by other musicians in this community as having had “a
unique sound which was pure and ‘effortlessly beautiful.’ Another hallmark
was his beautiful phrasing — “every phrase sounded so organic and natural,
surely the ONLY way it could be played! That’s a superlative musician. I
remember hearing him play just a simple
ritard at the end
of a piece and being amazed at its finesse — perfectly executed and so
satisfying. He had an incredible encyclopedic musical knowledge, evidence of a
deep passion and commitment to his art. And, of course, he was very modest about
it all.”
Ted was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey to parents Archer and Jeanette Cole in
1953 and grew up in Roselle, New Jersey making lifelong friends and developing
his commitment to community, the arts and education and integration in the
schools.
Ted is survived by his wife of 30 years, Lorraine, and his beloved daughter
Sonya Cole; his brothers and their wives: Hank Cole (Claudia Raskin) of Croom,
Maryland, Fred Cole (Ellen Levine) of Highland Park, New Jersey, and Steve Cole
(Pat Stahl) of Chicago, Illinois; his beloved nieces and nephews Rachael Cole,
Matthew Cole, Sam Cole, Shanna Cole, Genya Cole and Lou Cole; and his grand
nephews and grand nieces Alex Van Grunsven, Jackson, June and Claire Cole, and
Arrie Cole.
Thanks to those who have
given to the Maplewood-South Orange’s education foundation,
Achieve, in Ted’s memory. Ted’s wife Lorraine writes, “I wanted to let
friends who gave a general donation, or are wondering how to designate a
gift, know that we’re planning to fund a grant to support a teacher who will
use the money for professional development in the area of music education.
We’ll share more specifics soon. In the meantime, any undesignated funds
given in Ted’s name will be earmarked for this grant. Elise Howard, fehoward@gmail.com,
is helping me work with Achieve and will be happy to answer any questions
about the project.”
Born in Woolwich, Ray spent his early years following his family around various
postings from the UK to India, in his father's footsteps, a drum major in the
Coldstream Guards.
At the age of nine he attended the Duke of York's military school in
Dover. When he was 16 he signed up for the Royal Artillery Band and was
immediately sent to Kneller Hall, the Royal Military School of Music, where he
studied the violin and clarinet.
At the outbreak of the Second World War he returned to
the Royal Artillery Band where his duties took him all
over Europe and North Africa, making several lifelong
friendships.
"In 1948 he bought himself out of the army
with £20 worth of books, and a loan from his mother, in
order to take up the job he had been offered in the
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as second clarinet to
Hyram Lear. At the request of Sir Charles Groves he was
invited to become principal in 1953," said Jeremy, one
of his son's.
During his time at the BSO he performed in
the tenures of Rudolf Schwarz, Sir Charles Groves,
Constantin Silvestri, Paavo Berglund, Uri Segal and
Rudolf Barshai, and can be heard on all the recordings
from this renaissance period of the BSO. He was
regularly the soloist in the major clarinet concertos
with the orchestra, even having one written for him by
Graham Whettam.
In 1953 he married Cynthia Mitchell, a
violinist in the orchestra and later the co-leader with
the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, and together they had five
children.
"Always mindful of his days as an underling in the army
he treated all who played next to him or conducted in
front of him with the utmost kindness and respect," said
Jeremy.
Even though Ray retired in
1987, he continued to play with various ensembles both
classical and jazz, often with Cynthia. He gave musical
lectures, and was instrumental in the production of nine
CDs of previously unreleased recordings under the baton
of Constantin Silvestri.
"Ray also fought tirelessly in an attempt to save the
Winter Gardens, the home of
so many of the critically acclaimed concerts that he had
been part of during the previous decades, sadly to no
avail," said Jeremy.
He also wrote two books, 'The BSO: A Centenary
Celebration' in 1993 with Sean Street, and 'Constantin
Silvestri; Magician - A view from the Orchestra', in
2011.
After Cynthia died in 2008, he continued to
enjoy life, practising yoga until he was 93, reading and
writing poetry and lived on his own at home until a week
before his death.
Ray died October 29 after a short illness. He will be
much missed by family and friends.
He is survived by a sister, five children and eight
grandchildren.
His funeral will be held at Portman Lodge Funeral Home,
Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, on December 2 at 1.30pm.
23 September 2017
Petko Radev Petkov - Renowned Orchestral Soloist and
Teacher in Bulgaria - In Memoriam
Sofia, Bulgaria
Clarinetist Petko Radev is one of the renowned Bulgarian folklore musicians. He
was born on April 9, 1933 in the village of Svododa in the heart of Thrace.
The musician inherited his love towards music from his father.
Petko Radev started performing folklore music and was influenced by the
orchestras from Parvomay and Dalbok Izvor. His talent brought him to the School
of Music in Sofia, where he started studying classical music. At first it seemed
hard to him but success came soon. At a contest in Bucharest he won the first
prize. As a student in the Academy of Music he took part in the third Bulgarian
contest for instrumentalists and won the first prize, too. In 1957 he also won a
prestigious award from a contest in Genève. In 1961 he started working as a
clarinet player in the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1974 Petko Radev won a contest in La Scala in Milan and after that he spent
11 years playing the clarinet in one of the most renowned opera theatres in the
world. During this period I had the pleasure of performing with some of the best
conductors on the planet like Claudio Abado and Ricardo Muti. It was one of the
best periods in my career.
Before leaving for Milan, Petko Radev became a lecturer in the Music Academy.
After he returned to Bulgaria in 1985 he continued lecturing. To my joy my
students were all talented players. They were so good that they all went to work
in the US, Austria, and the UK. My students also work in the Bulgarian opera,
music theatre and philharmonic orchestra.
Petko Radev is not only working in the sphere of classical music but continues
loving Bulgarian folklore. He has also established a folk orchestra and is the
author of a number of Bulgarian chain dance melodies.
Here is what Petko Radev told Radio Bulgaria:
“When I was working in the orchestra of the radio I had the chance to make
contacts with a number of renowned folk musicians. At that time I made my first
records with accordion players Kosta Kolev, Ivan Kirev, Ivan Shibilev and Emil
Kolev. My meeting with accordion player Petko Dachev encouraged me to create an
orchestra of my own. We had a number of concerts with this orchestra and I
recorded some of my best music with it. I have performed together with singers
like Yanka Rupkina, Nedyalka Keranova, Yovcho Karaivanov and others. These
recordings are kept in the audio fund of the BNR.”
In
the past years Petko Radev has been the chairman of the jury at a music contest
in Parvomay. “It gives me a great pleasure to continue keeping in touch with my
first love – folk music,” he says.
The importance of the clarinet in the development of Bulgarian folk
music is significant. One of the most influential performers is Petko Radev.
Since clarinet became part of Bulgarian folk music it has influenced greatly its
development. Today’s players are true virtuoso performers and are good in
improvisation. Many were affected by the example of Ivo Papazov. But there are
other great players like Dimitar Paskov, Filip Simeonov, Orlin Pamukov.
With the
introduction of new technologies the opportunities for music inventions grow.
For example, Ivo Papazov is often a guest to jazz festivals. But still folklore
music is returning back to its roots, the musician says.
Clarinet player Petko Radev continued to work actively in the sphere of music.
He was a lecturer in the Music Academy in Sofia and Plovdiv and takes part in a
number of international festivals.
When he was young he was a tv star of folklore music in Bulgaria where he was
born . He worked a lot classical music with his teacher in Sofía Mr. Dimitrov .
He got the first prize for clarinet et at the Geneva international competition
and was the only non Italian to become principal clarinet of the La Scala of
Milan orchestra . He return in Sofía Philharmonic orchestra and teacher at the
Sofía High school of music where he had many student until now ( he was honorary
professor )
He won the Geneva competition in 1957 and I meet him many time in Bulgaria and
we played concerts with his students like Vanguel Tangarov, Denitza Laffchieva.
He was very proud of his young student Marian Bojidarov. For the 80th birthday
of Petko Andrew Marriner and me were invited in Bulgaria by his students to make
a surprise to Petko with a big concert also with Maria Prinz ( piano) the widow
of Alfred Prinz.
I
met Petko Radev many years ago in Prag spring international competition in
Prague spring international competition for clarinet when we were judges also
with Gervase de Peyer. ( Paolo Beltramini got the 1st Prize).
I liked Petko a lot , he had a
great humility.
4 September 2017
Maine
Loren Kitt, Renowned Solo Clarinetist in the Buffalo
Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and faculty at
several Universities and Conservatories including University of Maryland,
Catholic University, Peabody and Oberlin Conservatories - In Memoriam
The Vandoren family is deeply saddened to inform you that
clarinetist and artist Loren Kitt has passed away. Thank you to the National Symphony Orchestra for the post dedicated
to Loren. Let's play some beautiful music for Loren, his family, and his friends
today. Read more about Loren's career:
28 July 2017
Hans Rudolf Stalder - Renowned Swiss Clarinetist,
former Solo Klarinettist in the Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, active in New
Music with Pierre Boulez, and proponent of Early Historical Clarinets - In
Memoriam
Zurich, Switzerland
Hans Rudolf STALDER was born
in Zürich on July 9, 1930. He studied in Zürich Conservatory with Emil Fanghänel,
then with Gustav Steinkamp and Louis Cahuzac (in Luchon in SouthWest France),
First he was principal clarinet with the St Gallen Orchestra, 1953–1955, then
with the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra, 1955–1986. In Augsburg,1968 he gave the
first performance of Mozart's Concerto in a reconstruction of its original vers...ion
for basset clarinet. He was playing the chalumeau, period clarinets and basset
horn, but also contemporary music. He gave the first performances of Karl
Amadeus Hartmann's Chamber Concerto for clarinet and strings and Frank Martin's
Ballade in the composer's arrangement for him for basset horn and orchestra.
His own groups, Stalder Quintet (1955–1990) and Zürich Clarinet Trio (founded in
1976) have had many works written for them. Stalder taught at the Zürich
Conservatory from 1960 to 1970 and in 1975 was appointed to the Basle
Musikakademie.
A tribute from Philippe Cuper:
Hans Rudolf Stalder was a student of
Louis Cahuzac in France ,later principal clarinet at the Zürich
Tonhalle orchestra and teacher at the Basel High school and
member of the jury in all the most important clarinet competitions including the
ARD Munich Competition. He was the first ( or one of the very first ) to record
Mozart concerto on the original basset clarinet or to play with Pierre Boulez. I
played for him Mozart with Matthias Müller last April at the
special hospital house where he was near Zürich. He could play French and German
clarinets old or modern system.
A tribute from former student Matthias Mueller:
In this moment I got the very said news that our beloved teacher and great
person for history of the clarinet Hans Rudolf Stalder died.
He was not only a fantastic clarinet player - he was a wonderful person
as well. His only interest was music and clarinet. He did so much in
exploring old music for clarinet as well as pushing the avantgarde of our instrument. Some examples:
- he was among one of the first who started to play Molter
Concertos.
- he recorded as first the Mozart Clarinet Concerto on a
Bassettclarinet (the recording is available)
- he worked together with Pierre Boulez and started with others
to play with contemporary techniques
- he was one of the first European who was active at ICE Fests
- he was teacher of a whole generation of wonderful players and/or
exchanged with them a life long - among them Sabine Meyer, Paul Meyer, Hans
Deinzer, Philippe Cuper, Charles Neidich etc. etc.
- he plays a unique role for Swiss Clarinet Historie and was the
founder of Swiss clarinet school
22 July 2017
Ernst Ottenamer, Renowned Solo Klarinettist in the
Vienna Philharmoniker and founding member of the Clarinotts Klarinetten Trio
with his sons Andreas and Daniel - In Memoriam
Vienna, Austria
We have been informed of the sudden, unexpected death of Ernst
Ottensamer, principal clarinet of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Vienna State Opera. Ernst, who was 62, suffered a heart attack last night and
could not be revived.
His loss will be felt across the summits of the orchestra world, and far beyond.
His eldest son Daniel Ottensamer is second principal clarinet with the Vienna
Philharmonic.
His second son, Andreas, is principal clarinet with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Our sympathies to his grieving family, his colleagues and his students. Ernst
Ottensamer was a named that commanded universal respect.
Dominique Meyer, director of the Staatsoper, writes: Ernst Ottensamer was a
wonderful clarinetist, one that informed ears could recognize without seeing
him, as we would do with a human voice. I can’t believe I’m never going to hear
his Clemenza di Tito or his breakfast scene in Der Rosenkavalier again. Ernst
was also a lovely person. He often helped me when I needed it.
UPDATE2: Statement from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra:
The
Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera announce with deep sorrow the
sudden death of long-time orchestra member Ernst Ottensamer, who has succumbed
to a heart attack.
This loss leaves a deep personal and artistic void. Our thoughts are
with the family at this difficult time. Ernst Ottensamer was born in Upper
Austria in 1955 and studied clarinet at the University of Music and the
Performing Arts in Vienna. In 1979 he joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra
and since 1983 he has made his artistic mark as principal clarinetist of the
Vienna Philharmonic. He began his teaching career at the Vienna University of
Music in 1986 and became a full professor in 2000.
Ernst
Ottensamer formed several chamber music ensembles, foremost the Wiener Virtuosen,
the Wiener Bläserensemble, the Wiener Solisten Trio and, together with his sons
Daniel and Andreas, The Clarinotts. He has performed as chamber musician and
soloist with the most prominent ensembles, orchestras and conductors.
2 June 2017
30 May 2017
Georg Stump - Clarinetist
and Bass Clarinetist in the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker - In Memoriam
Düsseldorf, Germany
We mourn the passing of our colleague and friend georg stump: on
Tuesday passed away yesterday the bass clarinetist of the düsseldorfer
symphoniker georg stump in a tragic car accident in mönchengladbach. The
musician was already 34 years as a member of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra.
The Orchestra would like him as a sign of sympathy for the next symphony
concerts of the series sign on 9., 11. And 12. June in the hall.
The concern over the loss of our esteemed colleague's with the düsseldorfer
symphoniker big: " we are all stunned that our friend and colleague George from
one to the other moment torn from life. He was a great man and musician. He will
be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife and his family ", so the
orchestervorstand.
Georg stump received his first klarinettenunterricht at the age of eleven years
ago at the rheinische music school in his hometown of cologne. From 1976 to 1980
he studied at the Robert Schumann University in düsseldorf. Since 1983 he was a
bass clarinetist of Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Except for his work as an
orchestral musician he dedicated himself to chamber music tasks, was an avid
cyclist and a passionate painter.
Eduard Bruenner - Renowned Soloist,
Recording Artist, Solo Klarinettist with the Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra in Munich, Germany, and Professor at the Hochschule fur Musik
in Saarbruecken - In Memoriam
Saarbruecken, Germany
Swiss-German clarinetist
Eduard Brunner has been notable for collaborations with top-quality
chamber groups, for adventurous recordings, and perhaps especially for his
commitment to contemporary music. Born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1939, he
studied with pioneering French clarinetist
Louis Cahuzac in Paris until
Cahuzac's death. The fundamentals of his
professional life are common enough in pattern: he spent many years as first
clarinetist of the
Bavarian Radio Symphony during the conductorship of
Rafael Kubelik, later moving on to a professorship at the Hochschüle für
Musik in the west German city of Saarbrücken. Along the way came rounds of the
top European festivals and master classes at the likes of the Marlboro Music
Festival in the U.S. state of Vermont.
Brunner has commissioned many of the contemporary standards of clarinet
music, including concertos by Edison Denisov,
Jean Françaix,
Ernest Bloch, and more recently
Cristóbal Halffter, but he was also an enthusiastic exponent of clarinet
standards by the likes of
Spohr,
Weber, and
Stamitz. His recordings, more than 250 in number, have appeared on a
variety of labels, with a concentration of them appearing on the avant-garde
jazz/classical German label ECM. Perhaps most characteristic were
Brunner's chamber music collaborations, in which he often joined with
critically acclaimed artists of a somewhat intellectual cast:
Alfred Brendel, the
Végh Quartet, and
Yuri Bashmet. In 2007
Brunner issued a disc of contemporary Swiss clarinet music on the small
Musiques Suisses label; the disc included an interview with
Brunner by
Max Nyffeler. Remaining active as he approached his eighth decade,
Brunner followed that up with one of several recordings he has made of
wind chamber music by German composer
Harald Genzmer.
A tribute from former student Sebastian Manz:
He was like a mentor to me. For many years our paths have
crossed again and again, most recently at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, but also before
that, such as in Lübeck eligible during 2015 as the jury members. I'm going to
him first and foremost as a gentle person forever in memories!
20 April 2017
Major
German Klarinette Pedagogue Urs Brugger - In Memoriam
From VIP Matthias Mueller - sad news
Urs Brügger my first important clarinet teacher, passed away. To
early and with full energy and love for life and music.
His joy, happiness and kindness will live on in our feelings, thoughts and
acting. Here my obituary in German.
Urs Brügger my first important clarinet teacher, passed away. To
early and with full energy and love for life and music. His joy,
happiness and kindness will live on in our feelings, thoughts and
acting.
Dear urs
Your Clarinet is stopped. I would like to add, your laughter has
left us.
Almost 40 years ago we were clarinetist ish and friends As a young
ambitious clarinetist I came at the age of twelve in the class with
you at the music school of leimental. You were the right teacher at
the right time. You taught me what music is and your way of the aura
of atomized künstlertums. If you sometimes a little late to class
came - so what! Finally the kind of teacher that it is not so fussy
took with superficial discipline. It was for you to get the thing to
the music. Although only 12, test you treat me like an adult
students. You've always been inspired and full of enthusiasm for the
music.
We laughed at that time not often - I was probably a shy student. In
the last few years, we have, but hearty laugh about that time. For
example, that I sometimes went directly into the coffee, to get you.
That was a prägendste event with music but not directly, but to do
with life: you ludest us students once a pizza with you. At that
time there was fortunately still no pizza courier! Even the stairs
to your house was an event: some kicks and then which were the
garden: a wilderness! Things that a more childish young people keep
a low profile. This imperfekte fascina? Then the rich pizzas that we
are in the oven (in my memory it was a real wood burning stove)
deported! We ate as the wild and you made still more dick laden
cake. It was a night of me, a new different life smell left - a life
filled with adventures, mysteries and open expression of joy.
It was an unforgettable unique night we hearty laughed.
When I was 15, did you do something that few teachers do.
You said I was going to have to switch to a different teacher. I
felt that you wanted the best for me. It wasn't a question of
successes with me to celebrate, that was not an issue for you. You
wanted me to Hans Rudolf Stalder lessons. It should take a few more
years until I started studying with him. Now I understand very well
why you wanted to. Stalder was next to you to my principal
clarinetist European teachers.
Between us, was a new phase now. We became good friends! You're one
of my friends with whom I most and most laughed. We have the phone
for hours. Between Shoptalk on clarinets and music we made jokes and
did something with a few so went well, as with you:
We were
laughing at us!
I
admired the way you all over the world traveled around concert tours
and you've been back. Tirelessly was your musical energy and your
entrepreneurship. You gave it up at the end, a happier and positive
person.
Just as original as unique was your project, a pavilion at expo and
to buy the gymnasium oberwil in an idyllic location. You created a
place that you wouldn't be able to better represent. An Oasis for
the music, a meeting place of music lovers - a place of exchange of
art and conviviality. It was very important for the maintenance of
the creature comforts with delicacies and wine. It was about
clarinet and music, but you from above and beyond this: it was about
whole life.
The
atmosphere was always cheerful. If you came along was always
laughing.
You
have the concert series the title icarus. I've never asked you, why.
It suits you. You have your life to its limits, are bold and
unconventional approach others and got inspired. The many clarinets,
surrounded, you were very important to you. It was you but more to
it than that: they were just your wings to the bright side of life,
what makes life worth living.
Your
laugh is not silent, it lives on in us.
12 March 2017
Laura Flax, Renowned Soloist and Solo Clarinetist in
the New York City Opera Orchestra, and Faculty at the Juilliard School and Bard
College - In Memoriam
New York City USA
Clarinetist Laura Flax has been praised by the New York Times as
“one of those musicians for whom everything is not only possible, but easy.” She
is recognized as one of New York’s most distinguished and versatile players. Ms.
Flax is currently Principal clarinetist with the New York City Opera Orchestra,
the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Festival Orchestra. Formerly, a
member of the San Francisco and San Diego Symphonies, Ms. Flax was been a
frequent guest with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic,
St. Luke’s, Orpheus, and American Composers Orchestras. Her solo appearances
include performances with the Jerusalem Symphony, Bard Festival Orchestra,
American Symphony Orchestra, and the Puerto Rico Symphony. A member of the
Naumburg award winning Da Capo Chamber Players for twenty years, Ms Flax was
involved in over 100 premieres including works by Joan Tower, Shulamit Ran,
Philip Glass and Elliott Carter. She has given master classes and recitals
throughout the country at institutions and chamber music societies including
Eastman School of Music, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, University of
Chicago, Weill Hall, and MIT. As a chamber artist, Ms. Flax has appeared
regularly with Jaime Laredo and Friends series, Suzuki and Friends in
Indianapolis, Da Camera of Houston, and with the Bard Music Festival. As an
active proponent of new music Ms. Flax gave the NY Premiere of the Concerto for
Clarinet, Violin, and Horn by Aarre Merikanto at the Bard Music Festival. She
also gave the United States Premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Clarinet Concerto with
the American Symphony and received this review “Ms. Flax’s performance was
literally breathtaking. Her leaps from low to high, soft to loud, or from coy to
terrified, were spellbinding, as was her virtuosity and musicianship.”.
Ms. Flax is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory and The Juilliard
Pre-College. Her recording of Joan Tower’s Wings
is available on the CRI label and music of Shulamit Ran on Bridge records. Ms.
Flax’s twin daughters Amalie and Fanny are music performance majors at the Bard
College Conservatory.
Solo and Orchestral Reviews:
“ Another high point of the concert was Joan Tower’s
Wings, a graphic clarinet solo,
dazzlingly played by
Laura Flax …” Andrew Porter, The New Yorker Magazine.
“Ms. Flax had ample opportunity to display her considerable prowess in
modulating tonal color, spinning fluid lines, and regulating dynamics.“ Peter G.
Davis, New York Times
“ Right from the first, at the opening performance of La
Clemenza di Tito, the musical caliber was high. The
important solos on clarinet and basset horn were beautifully phrased by Laura
Flax.” Paul Griffiths, New York Times
“…and Laura Flax, the principal clarinetist, played brilliantly in exposed
solos” Steve Smith, New York Times
“If by the way you hadn’t yet noticed the superb playing of the orchestra’s new
principal clarinetist, Laura Flax, just about anything she played in the
Serenade would have made a believer out of you.” John Willett, San Diego
Magazine
“Laura Flax is one of the few classically trained clarinetists who can match the
screechy brilliance of Benny Goodman’s original performance of Bartok’s Contrasts.”
Victor Landau, Poughkeepsie Journal
“….and Laura Flax, with her warmth and long line, made the glorious clarinet
rhapsody a song of her own.” Paul Griffiths, New York Times
“A
seventh important solo voice came from the orchestra: Laura Flax, who played the
prominent clarinet and basset horn solos exquisitely.” Peter G. Davis, New York
Magazine
A Tribute to Laura Flax from friend and colleague
Alan R Kay
The world lost a beautiful soul
this morning. Laura brought unwavering strength, love and humor to everything
and everyone she touched. She was not only a tremendously gifted musician whose
playing and teaching touched and inspired so many of us: she truly loved and
cherished music and the people who make it. I was so fortunate to have been her
colleague at Juilliard for many years and to have had the privilege of playing
with her on many occasions. She was a fabulous mother to her two wonderful
daughters and had such love and respect for them. I have always loved teaching
Shulamit Ran's "Monologue: For an Actor" and Joan Tower's "Wings" because they
bear Laura Flax's name as the dedicatee. Those pieces will take on an air of
sadness now, but the gift of having known this remarkable woman will last
forever.
22 February 2017
Jeffrey Lerner - Solo Clarinetist Emeritus in the
Houston Symphony and Professor at the University of Houston - In Memoriam
Houston, Texas USA
Jeffrey Lerner enlisted in the US Army on his
eighteenth birthday on January 15, 1946. He desired to serve his country
even though WWII had officially ended. The time in the service allowed him to
further his musical training towards the goal of becoming a professional
musician. He continued his studies with world-renowned Daniel Bonade, took an
evening theory course at The Julliard School, and performed acoustic bass with
the Jack Moore Trio. Jeffrey holds two degrees from The Julliard School and is
well known as a clarinet and saxophone soloist and clinician. Jeffrey performed
with the New York City Opera and the Goldman Band. He was the principal
clarinetist with the Texas Opera Theater; the Houston Ballet Orchestra; the
Houston Symphony Orchestra; and the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra for many
years; a founding member of the Winds of Texas. He was a Professor of Music at
the University of Houston Moores School of Music for over 50 years, Jeffrey was
honored to be named Professor Emeritus of clarinet and saxophone upon his
retirement. Jeffrey was beloved and widely recognized as a performer, teacher,
mentor, and leader in the music world in Houston, throughout the United States,
and abroad.
21 February 2017
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Renowned composer and
Conductor - Minnesota Orchestra's conductor laureate - In Memoriam
Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Stanislaw
Skrowaczewski has died. He was 93.
Skrowaczewski came to Minnesota decades ago to lead what was then the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and he never left. He changed the face of
classical music in Minnesota, and remained a towering presence in the classical
music world until the end.
He had fallen in love with music while very young, as a boy in Poland.
"When I was 4 I started to play piano myself," he told MPR in 1997. "Haydn,
Mozart, Beethoven. Sonatas, sonatinas, chamber music."
The music touched him in a way probably few of us can understand. He told a
story of something that happened to him in the street one day:
"Being 7, I heard something on the street, in an open window, in the summer,
from the radio, that completely impressed me so much that I became very
sick, physically sick," he recalled. "For three days, with a high
temperature. It was Bruckner's
Seventh Adagio."
That
bolt from the blue began a lifelong love of the composer's work. Skrowaczewski
also began composing his own music at that early age. He became well known as a
performer, and eventually planned a career as a concert pianist.
That dream ended during World War II, when a bomb sent a wall crashing down on
one of his hands.
He
turned instead to conducting, which led him to the Warsaw National Orchestra,
then to Cleveland, and finally to Minnesota.
In
1960, he took over as music director of the Minneapolis Symphony, a job he held
until 1979, when he became the Minnesota Orchestra's conductor laureate.
He
conducted the orchestra at least once a year from then on. He also led
independent concerts by the orchestra's musicians during the lockout that ended
three years ago, and conducted the first two concerts after the contract
settlement.
Skrowaczewski
championed new music, and it was he who declared the acoustics of Northrop
Auditorium, where the Minneapolis Symphony had played for decades, unacceptable.
When asked how they could be improved, he had a one-word answer: "Dynamite."
The years-long
drive to build and open Orchestra Hall was one highlight of his tenure in
Minnesota.
In 1979, he
told MPR that it was shock at first to play in the new hall because it sounded
so much better.
"The Northrop
was only loud and soft," he said. "When it was too soft, no one could hear at
all, and when it was loud, what you hear there was only brass and percussions,
no strings. In this hall we can have a very fine texture and performances."
Critics
welcomed the improvement in the hall and the resulting improvement in the
orchestra, too.
The symphony
also was renamed the Minnesota Orchestra while Skrowaczewski was at the helm,
although he later said that was a board decision, and he was not consulted.
Lea Foli,
concertmaster in the late 1970s, said he believed Scrowaczewski knew 20 or 30
symphonies by heart.
"I can't think
of another practicing conductor that has a bigger repertoire or greater depth of
understanding of what he is doing," Foli said.
When he
finally stepped down after 19 years as music director, Skrowaczewski was seen by
some as the last of the breed of conductors who led their orchestras for
decades. He became the Minnesota Orchestra's conductor laureate, and appeared
with the orchestra at least once a year.
After stepping
down as music director in Minnesota, he followed a hectic international
schedule, conducting all over the world. He was particularly popular in Japan,
where fans celebrated his 90th birthday by inviting him to conduct a series of
concerts.
"Composing is the
heart of who he is, but he spent a lot more time conducting," Skrowaczewski
biographer Fred Harris said. "That insight into music by being both a conductor
and a composer makes him special."
Three years ago, a German label released a 28-CD
collection of Skrowaczewski recordings, including
performances of Beethoven, Bruckner, Schumann, Bartok and Berlioz, as well as
his own compositions. The set shows the remarkable scope of Skrowaczewski's
work, said Harris, who spent more than a decade writing the conductor's
biography, "Seeking the Infinite."
In his later
years, Skrowaczewski often looked frail as he walked on stage, but said when he
stood on the podium he felt rejuvenated, lifted by the music he loved so much.
In 2014, at age 90, he said people just kept asking him to come back.
"And they realize
that any moment I can just say, 'I have to stop, and this is it,'" he said. "And
if it goes well, why not?"
Skrowaczewski
played his last concert with the Minnesota Orchestra in October. The program
included his beloved Bruckner.
4 February 2017
Gervase de Peyer - World
Renowned Clarinet Soloist and Former Solo Clarinetist in the London Symphony -
In Memoriam
Gervase de Peyer is one of the great instrumentalists of the
second half of the twentieth century. In 1956, maestro Josef Krips selected
Gervase de Peyer as his principal clarinetist for the London Symphony Orchestra
(LSO). De Peyer held this position for seventeen years, while continuing an
active solo and chamber music career, during what was acknowledged to be one of
the high points of the LSO's history.
A mark of his eminence is that de Peyer toured as the chosen soloist
with both Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland when those composers conducted their
own clarinet concertos. The clarinetist also recorded the Première Rhapsodie for
Orchestra avec Clarinet Principale en Sib in the series of Debussy orchestral
works conducted by Pierre Boulez, with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Later, in the
1970s, Gervase de Peyer moved to live and work in the USA, first of all in New
York.
In May, 2005, I discovered that Gervase de Peyer was once again based
in London, though still making American appearances. Eventually, on a sunny
spring day, I met the clarinetist at his comfortable apartment beside the River
Thames, within sight of London's Tower Bridge, where much of the following
interview took place.
Charming and personable, with impeccable manners and courtesy,
Gervase received me in his living room. Several opened boxes of clarinet reeds
lay on one of the tables, together with sheaves of music and a copy of Richard
Morrison's book: Orchestra: The LSO - a Century of Triumph and Turbulence (1).
De Peyer had just attended the LSO's one hundred year celebration in London.
During our conversation we were joined by Gervase's charming wife
Katia, who provided generous hospitality and refreshment. Together we spent
several hours chatting. As a child, Gervase lived in London before the
war, with his parents. "There was a co-educational school across Hampstead Heath
called King Alfred's," he said. "In a way it was unusual because it was a
private school, and a new form of open education. You know, everybody called
everyone by their first names - teachers as well. I'd really hardly thought
about playing the clarinet, because I was having private piano lessons. I loved
music, but was not thinking of another instrument, until the school asked me to
take up a wind instrument. Flute, oboe, clarinet or bassoon - I could choose the
one I liked best.
"So I thought about that for a bit, and decided it should be the clarinet. I
started having lessons with a lady who was a disaster, but I found another
teacher with whom I got on well. Years later, when I joined for a short period
the Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra, I again met with this charming and amusing
man who sat beside me playing as second and bass clarinetist, Mr. Wilfred
Hamilton. For many years he was a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra.
"I had a lovely piano teacher named Mabel Floyd (2). She was a darling and
seemed to take to me. So I got on quite well with the piano. By the time I took
up the clarinet I had in fact played the piano at the Wigmore Hall. Mabel Floyd
had a concert there every year, with her pupils.
"I
was also inspired by Ethel Bartlett, who was my mother's older sister, and was
half of a team called Bartlett and Robertson (3). They were duo pianists, the
first really famous duo piano soloists in the world to make a big career. I
don't think it had ever been done.
"Vronsky
and Babin followed them along (4), but until 1954 Bartlett and Robertson were
the reigning international duo piano team. I remember going to the Wigmore Hall
not only to play my own little pieces but also when they gave a recital. They
would give first performances of big pieces on two pianos. I was absolutely
thrilled."
"They were great friends, and came down to visit us in the summer
holidays. But I became fascinated by their playing. I loved it very much."
Gervase points to a pencil drawing of Ethel Bartlett by Laura Knight (5), a
famous painter of the time who was a friend of the family's.
"The
relationship that I had with Laura Knight was first of all through these duo
pianists. Laura Knight heard me play in one of the concerts at the Wigmore Hall
- so we became friendly. When I had remarried in the late 1960s I was looking
for a house. I heard that Laura Knight had died. I knew her lovely house in St
John's Wood and was very glad to be able to buy it.
"The contact with the artistic side of London was really wonderful. Both my
parents were singers, not particularly successful ones. My mother was very
talented, but lost her voice due to bad training. She couldn't talk. As a part
of my childhood I can remember her hardly talking. It was pretty grim. She
finally got over that.
"At Bedales, after taking school certificate, I won a scholarship for
both piano and clarinet to the Royal College of Music. I studied there for a
year, having clarinet lessons with Frederick Thurston, piano lessons with Arthur
Alexander. One of the deputies who came along to teach me harmony was Ralph
Vaughan Williams. He was absolutely charming, an absolutely delightful person,
so quiet and humble, and really openly generous-hearted. I brought along a
harmony exercise. He was rather slow, and very quiet. He studied this carefully
and played a little bit on the piano. Then he said: "I hope you will have the
patience. I'm just going to write you something." So he then wrote out an
exercise on the same melody. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I wish I'd
kept it, but it got lost."
Another
eminent composer who was part of that circle was Arnold Bax. "One couldn't help
meeting Bax in one particular spot in London, which was The Glue Pot - the pub
just round the corner from the BBC," says de Peyer. "I was extremely young at
the time, and quite surprised to find Bax already pretty inebriated!"
De Peyer got into the Royal Marines Band Service (RMBS) at eighteen,
without even requiring an audition. This was not so surprising, because they did
have their own training scheme. Naturally, they trusted the Royal College of
Music's recommendation.
As a
wartime measure the RMBS had evacuated to Scarborough in Yorkshire. There it
occupied the two best hotels in town, overlooking the North Sea. "Our duties
were not arduous," says de Peyer. "Some band rehearsals and concerts in the
town, a three-week tour in the fall of 1944 from Hamburg and down the North Sea
coast of Germany, which was by then occupied by the Allies. We were playing for
the occupation soldiers and any Germans who cared to attend; a rather dejected
and miserable group did so. Early in 1945, I learned I was to be sent to the
Pacific. The purpose was to join a heavy cruiser needing extra musicians, and we
would travel on a troopship. So I was going out to Japan, which is a journey
I'll never forget," he says. "The Royal Marine Band Service was to take me half
around the world, on an old boat that creaked its way down the Bay of Biscay
into the Mediterranean.
"It wasn't
the first time I'd been so far. I had already spent several summers in France,
on the southern end of the Bay of Biscay, south of Bordeaux, before the war. In
fact, we'd almost got stuck in 1939. We'd gone down there by car, and got back
just in time to listen to the broadcast declaration of war that weekend. It made
a big impression on me; the thing that thrilled me about the place, as a kid,
was that there was a professional tennis championship which I watched with much
excitement. I kept up my interest in tennis, which I used to play rather well.
At Bedales School, they said, 'If he doesn't want to be a musician he can be a
tennis player.' "
I asked if Gervase considers there to be any connection between
athleticism and playing a musical instrument. "I think there is," he says. "It's
a case of physical and mental coordination. It helps if one is physically alert
and the muscles are working well."
But the Royal College of Music, and tennis at Bedales, was a long way from life
on a heavy old troopship, packed with sailors and soldiers, all going to the Far
East as reinforcements for some of the ships who had casualties during the
fighting," he explains.
"Our old
ship broke down after coming into the Red Sea through Suez, and had to call in
for repairs. After this delay, we arrived in the Indian Ocean and the whole
ship's company was summoned to muster on deck. The commanding officer told us of
the atomic bomb explosion in Japan. That was August 1945. I was absolutely
amazed and horrified but I knew that we were not going to fight the Japanese
much longer. By the time we got to Trincomalee, in southern Ceylon, about a week
later, we disembarked the ship. I hadn't even unpacked when I was called to play
in the officer's mess. The Japanese had capitulated.
"There I was with an upright piano, and three musicians who had no
music, but we were asked to play anyway. I drank myself out of the Japanese war.
I was absolutely plastered. I don't remember the end of the day. I think I was
carried back to the barracks. I realized how bad you did feel if you did get
properly drunk. I've never done it so much again, ever.
"I
stayed for six months in Colombo, as people who had been fighting in the Pacific
had preferential passage back to Europe. I gave the first classical music
broadcasts from Colombo while I was there."
Gervase de Peyer then came back to the Royal College of Music, to the
same teachers as previously. They were the clarinetist Frederick Thurston, and
the pianist Arthur Alexander. "Almost immediately I was offered work with Sir
Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic, whenever they needed an extra clarinet. The
manager of the Orchestra was John Amis. The wind players included Gerald Jackson
flute, Leon Goossens or Terence McDonald on oboe, Gwydion Brooke on bassoon,
Dennis Brain or Alan Civil on horn, and they had recently appointed Jack Brymer
as principal clarinet.
"At that time, William Glock had become music director of the BBC
Third Programme and he also ran the Dartington Summer School Festival. This is
where I met him, thanks to his assistant John Amis."
"This was all going on while I was at the RCM. After two-and-a half
years there I decided to study in Paris with Louis Cahuzac.(6) This widened my
horizons a bit.
"The pianist Cyril Preedy had been a fellow student at the RCM. I'd
had an offer to go to one of the Oxford colleges to play. I'd heard him, thought
he was extremely brilliant, and asked him whether he would be interested to play
together. I was quite astonished when I first went to his place for a rehearsal.
It was in Notting Hill Gate, and it was one of the conversions down a little
alleyway, which had formerly been a garage road. Quite a lot of the garages had
been adapted as houses as well. There, to my utter astonishment, one of the
upper rooms in these tiny houses was almost totally occupied by a grand piano.
Amazing! This was where Cyril used to practice, and where we started to rehearse
for that concert in Oxford."
My friend the violist
Cecil Aronowitz, who was working in a group called the Wigmore Ensemble, asked
me to deputize for [clarinetist] Sydney Fell, to do an audition for the Arts
Council of Great Britain.
The audition
was successful and proved to be invaluable for me personally, since a month or
two later I was phoned up and told that the Arts Council was forming a group
called Music in Miniature, which was going to be a concert version of a
broadcast which had been going on for years at the BBC. It was half an hour
only. During that half hour there was non-stop music, all of it rather short
things, not a whole work, but a movement, maybe, of a symphony. This program had
been copied by the Arts Council as a Music in Miniature on tour. It consisted of
a cellist, Vivian Joseph, a violinist Ivri Gitles, the pianist Margaret
Chamberlain, clarinet - I'd been asked for - and a singer, who varied from tour
to tour. This was exciting news for me, and I came back from Paris to do an
audition with this group.
9 January 2017
George Silfies, Renowned Solo Clarinetist in the St
Louis Symphony and many Orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra under
George Szell and the Metropolitan Opera and as a respected Pedagogue - In
Memoriam
University City, Missouri
George Silfies was born to make music.
“He really was nuts about music,” said Sue Silfies, his wife of 64 years, “and
he listened to it and played it as much as he could.”
Mr. Silfies, principal clarinet of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1970
until he retired on his 76th birthday in 2004, began piano lessons at the age of
5 but was such a good sight-reader that he didn’t need lessons for long.
At 12, he took up the clarinet, the instrument he was born to play, and never
put it down.
Mr. Silfies died Jan. 9 (2017) of a heart attack at
his home in University City. He was 88.
Born in Allentown, Pa., Mr. Silfies was accepted at the notoriously choosy
Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and graduated three years later, at
20. He immediately got a job with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and met his
wife, a piano student at the Peabody Conservatory.
Mr. Silfies spent his military service during the Korean War in the U.S. Navy
Concert Band, one of the world’s premiere wind ensembles. Soon after his
discharge, Mr. Silfies was offered the assistant principal clarinet position in
the Cleveland Orchestra, under famed music director George Szell.
After seven years, Sue Silfies said, “he was tired of playing assistant, so we
decided to go to New York and freelance.”
Mr. Silfies had a steady gig at New York City Opera, but he often substituted at
the Metropolitan Opera.
Both of them worked at the Santa
Fe Opera in the summer, as did the then-concertmaster of the SLSO. He told Mr.
Silfies that the orchestra needed a principal clarinet and suggested that he
audition. The orchestra paid for Mr. Silfies to come and audition, and hired him
immediately.
“George was an immense musician. He was a force,” said SLSO associate clarinet
Diana Haskell, a friend and colleague. “His piano skills were amazing, his
clarinet skills were astounding, his sight-reading was brilliant and he was a
very good conductor. He was also hysterically funny.”
Mr. Silfies was featured on many recordings, of both orchestral and chamber
music.
“His best recordings were made here,” mostly with Leonard Slatkin and the SLSO,
Sue Silfies said. Those included works by Brahms, Mozart and Beethoven, among
others, as well as a witty rendition of George Gershwin’s “Walking the Dog.”
Mr. Silfies appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the
Cleveland Orchestra, as well as with the SLSO, where he was featured in
concertos by composers ranging from Mozart to Dominick Argento, whose
“Capriccio: Rossini in Paris” for Clarinet and Orchestra was commissioned by the
orchestra specifically for Mr. Silfies. As a pianist, he worked with artists
including Pablo Casals, Robert Shaw, Alexander Schneider, Richard Lewis and
Claudine Carlson.
Mr. Silfies served on music faculties wherever he was, most recently for the
former St. Louis Conservatory and School for the Arts (now the Webster
University Music School), where he was the artistic director of the Artists
Diploma Program. Many of his former
students have been principal or assistant principals in orchestras around the
country, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and others.
Said Haskell: “George always said, ‘It’s got to be fun. Playing the clarinet
should be fun.’ I think he demonstrated that every day, no matter what
instrument he was playing. In the end, that’s really what it’s all about — to
share that joy and fun with our audience and with each other.”
4 January 2017
Georges Prêtre - Renowned French Conductor - In
Memoriam
The veteran conductor Georges Prêtre has died at his home in the South West of
France; he was 92. He is perhaps best known as the conductor of two of Maria
Callas’s late recordings, both made for EMI in 1964: her first of Bizet’s
Carmen and the remake of Puccini’s
Tosca. He also conducted her Paris
gala in 1959.
Born in Waziers in the north of France, Prêtre studied at the Paris
Conservatoire, harmony with Maurice Duruflé and conducting with André Cluytens.
He made his conducting debut at the Opéra de Marseille in 1946, and then at
Lyons and Toulouse. His Paris debut followed with Richard Strauss’s Capriccio, a work that remained close to his
heart (and which he would recorded many years later with Dame Felicity Lott as
the Countess).
He was Music Director of the Opéra-Comique from 1955 to ‘59, and at the Opéra de
Paris from 1970 to ‘71. During the 1960s he made his debuts at Covent Garden,
the Met and La Scala, with whom he enjoyed a long relationship (in 1992 he
conducted filmed versions of Cav & Pag
with Domingo at the Milanese house).
He was best known for his advocacy of French music. He conducted the world
premiere of Francis Poulenc’s La voix humaine
(1959) and the Sept répons de ténèbres
(1963). Among his many recordings, made mainly for French EMI, were Bizet’s
Les Pêcheurs de perles (with Cotrubas,
Vanzo and Sarabia), Gounod’s Faust
(with Domingo, Freni and Ghiaurov), Massenet’s Werther
(with de los Angeles and Gedda), Poulenc’s Concerto for organ, timpani and
strings (with Duruflé playing the organ), his ballet Les
Biches, and the Gloria
and Stabat mater. For RCA he recorded
Verdi’s La traviata with Montserrat
Caballé as Violetta and, also with Caballé, a now legendary live performance of
Bellini’s Norma, caught live at
Orange, as well as Lucia di Lammermoor
with Anna Moffo in the title-role.
He conducted the New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna twice – the only Frenchman
to do so – in 2008 and 2010.
