John Williams' Clarinet Concerto

[Tom 4,650]

Finally, a new recording.  The bootleg's quality was painful.  Plus, this is a concerto that deserves a more prominent place in the contemporary clarinet repertoire.  

 

Do we have any details on the revisions?  Did Williams only just revise it?  

[Jay 37,336]

@TownerFan tells me it was revised a few years ago, intended to be performed in 2020 and then delayed until now due to covid

[Thor 7,490]

Nice! I heard about this new concert performance on SoMe, but wasn't aware it was being filmed! I've barely played the old bootleg recording over the years, as the sound is so abysmal. Next to a proper album recording, this is a MAJOR sound upgrade.

[Thor 7,490]

I realized it's 8 minutes longer than the old Zukowsky recording (her's was 20 minutes, this is 28), so yes - loads of revisions here, as Miguel says.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

@TownerFan tells me it was revised a few years ago, intended to be performed in 2020 and then delayed until now due to covid

 

From the program notes by John Yeh:

When John Williams wrote his only Clarinet Concerto, it was as a gift to

my former teacher Michele Zukovsky, long-time Principal Clarinet of

the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She premiered it to great acclaim and

performed it several times in the 1990s. After Michele retired from the

LA Phil in 2015, she presented me with the score and all the

performance materials for John's Concerto, which is unpublished, in the

hope that one day I would record the work and perform it widely.

During the 2020-2021 Covid Pandemic, I had time to deeply study the

Concerto and to correspond with John Williams about it. He has given

me his blessing to program it.

[karelm 2,911]

11 hours ago, Jay said:

JOHN BRUCE YEH PERFORMS MIDWEST PREMIERE OF JOHN WILLIAMS' CONCERTO FOR CLARINET

 

On Monday February 5 at 7.30pm Central Time, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, IL, clarinetist John Bruce Yeh will perform the Midwest premiere of John Williams' Clarinet Concerto with the Chicago College of Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra conducted by Emanuele Andrizzi. The program also features music by Timothy Corpus and Howard Hanson. More info at roosevelt.edu/events/ccpa-symphony-orchestra-concert-2

 

Free performance––no reservations required. The event will also be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/Z2NaXuPU2Zk

 

In addition to be on Artist Faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, John Yeh is Assistant Principal Clarinet and Solo Eb Clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performed in several live concerts conducted by John Williams in the city.

 

Williams' Clarinet Concerto premiered in 1991 and was composed for the LA Phil's then-Principal Clarinet Michele Zukovsky and has been rarely performed since then. Don't miss the chance to listen to a wonderfully buoyant concert work from Maestro Williams performed by a great virtuoso of the instrument.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid0337cd7BCWDT1vX8xevotc339dp8rpuGrKdzyxcTjERLnpo2DnHiU46pyJvXHyaM8il

 

 

Here it is!

 

 

 

This was incredibly beautiful!  I listen to a lot of music all the time but this was something I listened to twice in a row, something I never do.  This mix is very problematic though, so I remastered it (attached) but definitely needs a real, pro level recording...it's just gorgeous!  I don't like how close the clarinet mic was but at least it's listenable now.  Anyway, I love this work.  Might just be my favorite of his concerti.  I find it mystical, exotic, lyrical, concise, engaging, colorful.  What can I say...I'm a fan.  

 

 

[Tom 4,650]

Yes, the clarinet mic is too close, but compared to the old bootleg, it is a revelation.  I have not taken the time to compare the two, but the middle movement seemed quite a bit longer to me.  My guess is that a good chuck of the extensions are there.  Maybe the 1st movement cadenza is a bit longer?  The third movement struck me as the same.  But again, I have not taken the time to relisten to the bootleg.  

 

I think Miguel once called this piece a "minor masterpiece."  I am quite fond of that description.  It is not a tour de force like the second violin concerto or quite as broad as Five Sacred Trees, but it achieves what it sets out to do.  

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

This with the viola concert have always been two of my favorites, I'm super happy this got a fair recording. Now on to the viola concerto!

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

Maybe Leonard Slatkin will record it for Naxos sometime (and the viola concerto!).

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Maybe Leonard Slatkin will record it for Naxos sometime (and the viola concerto!).

 

That project seems to have come to a halt, as Slatkin is no longer principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony. Of course, he could carry on with it in visits to Detroit or with other orchestras, but there are even a couple of unreleased recordings of the ones he conducted during his tenure there...

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

1 hour ago, Miguel Andrade said:

 

That project seems to have come to a halt, as Slatkin is no longer principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony. Of course, he could carry on with it in visits to Detroit or with other orchestras, but there are even a couple of unreleased recordings of the ones he conducted during his tenure there...

That's a shame, although they seem to still be releasing things once in a while as his recording of the trumpet concerto was only released in the last few months (adding to quite a significant number of recordings too!).

[TJH132 48]

On 06/02/2024 at 11:26 AM, Thor said:

I realized it's 8 minutes longer than the old Zukowsky recording (her's was 20 minutes, this is 28), so yes - loads of revisions here, as Miguel says.

 

I gave the new performance a listen and it's definitely a sonic improvement over the old recording.  The orchestra and soloist perform admirably for the first two movements, but seem to struggle with the proper tempo on the third.  Some of the extra eight minutes must come from the much slower tempo.