I love his tone. It's not a really nasal sound, and his fingerings are so fluid, you can barely even hear the register break. The tempo is really nice too. Relaxed without feeling as if he is running a marathon. I am a clarinetist and he has inspired me to want to learn this sonata. Clarinet is awesome!
+sunshine7959 I'm glad I read your comment. I think I own this recording, but just now I appreciated for the first time that both instruments are played very softly and in a carefully sustained fashion. Your contribution was mentioning how clarinet fingering could make such a difference. (Call me nuts, but I think RU-vid has opened up a remarkable forum for the exchange of ideas among music lovers, both long-time listeners and ones admirably trying new things.)
I met Karl Leister in Austin, when he played the Schubert Octet. I told him about my Wurlitzer C clarinet. We drank beer together. It was a nice visit.
There is some tranquility or serenity in Poulenc's work, almost all his work has this feeling, some kind of narrative of enchanted scenarios. Thank you for the post.
I really liked the "liberties" he took with some of the phrasing and adding in the occasional ritard/pause. Poulenc did not notate any of them in his score, but they feel so......natural, so right. I kind of liked the slower tempo on the 2nd movement, also. Marking is 54. He played it around 42, which gave it an even more relaxed, somber feel. Bravo!
Just to clarify for those who comment that they prefer the "French" sound of Gervase de Peyer. De Peyer was born in London and is as English as they come. Don't jump to conclusions based on a name. That said, both de Peyer and Leister are pretty impressive.
Even so De Peyer, although being an Englishman, played a French system clarinet and he also followed the French school of playing. Leister plays a German system clarinet and is THE example of the German school of clarinet playing. The two gentlemen are, each in his own class, excellent players.
0:35 shouldn't the last note of that phrase be a C and not an E? My score (the 2006 edition) says it should be a C, and my lessons teacher's edition (much older than mine, but I don't remember the exact date or edition) also has it written as a C. I asked my lessons teacher about this and he said that he never seen it as it is in this recording. I'm planning on doing this piece for my senior recital and I'm just curious about that phrase.
I suppose it's too late now for your recital, but anyway... Poulenc changed four notes (of which that E/C is one) in between working on the piece with clarinettist André Boutard and sending the piece to Chester for publication. He died suddenly before he could communicate the changes to Boutard, so Boutard (understandably enough) kept playing the piece as he knew it. (Boutard's recording is on youtube, and it's great.) A lot of French players stick to this version; some of them go around calling the different notes in the published version "errors", especially when they're giving masterclasses ;) But the changes are definitely Poulenc's. If you want to see a copy of Poulenc's manuscript with the changes in his handwriting, go here: test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=229159&t=229159
+長妻宏 I think this is one of the best version of Poulenc sonata. This is one of the clothest interpretations to Poulenc own. (I don't think about Lancelot and Arignon, Poulenc must be play very strict, especially second movement ( of course with a dramatic inspiration - it's an funeral ) But of course this is my opinion.
No interest in Benny doing this. He is great at jazz but classical....he mastered the instrument but his ear doesn't stylistically hear classical clarinet.
Hey, RU-vid -- I'm trying to enjoy a piece of classical music while reading. I don't need to be interrupted every 1:30 by some obnoxious idiotic ad screaming at me. Not to mention it's a total disgrace to the music.
De Peyer, although being an Englishman, played a French system clarinet and he also followed the French school of playing. The old school of French playing had a brighter but thinner tone and a vibrato. Leister plays a German system clarinet and is THE example of the German school of clarinet playing without vibrato.He only uses the dynamics, superb fingering and a beautiful legato.The two gentlemen are, each in their own class, excellent players. The two styles in the meantime have learnt from each other and the good French players use a darker sound now. Listen to Italians; they have been able to use French system clarinets while producing a very beautiful singing tone.
+Dylan Ross I presume this is the performance first issued in 1989 on Deutsche Grammophon, James Levine accompanying a set of Berlin-based soloists in highlights of Poulenc's woodwind-piano chamber music. If you're a clarinet fan, consider getting a more complete set that includes the Sonata for Two Clarinets (at times rather Stravinskian) and the Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon, neither with keyboard, and both being early works embodying aspects of the Dada (absurdist) and Neoclassical (18th-Century restraints) movements of the time. The Sonata in this clip, sadly, was one of Poulenc's last utterances, and it was premiered posthumously by Benny Goodman and Leonard Bernstein. Really!
sounds like carl missed the high f sharp at about 50 seconds into the tune...I remember turning pages for stoltzman's pianist in san jose and stoltzman missed that one as well!! hee hee I never missed that one and I played it quite a few times
nervous gervase...yuch yuck...you want good playing ? listen to Harold Wright play this and learn my british friend...p.s. fred thurston is good english playing...gervase sucks the big one
