Search - Aaron Copland, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Nielsen :: John Manasse plays 3 Clarinet Concertos

A mistake from the downbeat

B. Jones | Washington DC | 12/23/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a HUGE Jon Manasse fan, and I have recommended this CD to all my students because it's unheard of to find one recording of the three major clarinet concerti on one CD. Jon Manasse continues to be the model for the ideal clarinet tone. His playing is tasteful, balanced, and genteel, and even a listener who prefers his clarinetist with more devil-may-care would be hard pressed to identify someone who meets his level of near-perfection. As one of my students put it: Manasse is the Cary Grant of clarinet.



Naturally, one would expect any product associated with Mr. Manasse to reflect this ethic. His two volumes of von Weber as well as his "Three Centuries" CD are stellar recordings that I actually listen to for sheer enjoyment. The performances of the solist, conductor, collaborating musicians, and production teams are clearly in agreement on a vision and a dedication to excellence.



But this recent CD... it's something else. I've listened to it a number of times, and the profundity of problems boggles me, the largest being the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. From the first down bow of the Mozart Concerto K622, this orchestra is terribly out of tune, and it is unabating. While this is not too much of a distraction in the Nielsen - it's angular melodies and progressive harmonies seem to veil much of the problem - it grows to be almost cloying in the Copland Concerto. On top of this, one can tell how small this ensemble is and how sorely lacking the strings are in technique. There are phrase endings in the Copland that are so haggardly rendered, that I wonder if perhaps the orchestra was sight-reading.



On an engineering level, the balance levels if the winds and piano are so scant, that the Mozart seems as if it has been arranged by a third party, and I initially fretted that producers were unable to hire a pianist for the Copland in which it plays such a crucial role.



Above it all, Mr. Manasse remains a stalwart of professionalism, valiantly delivering his part with savoir-faire and gentility. For the most part, he manages this, although his well-known ad libs in the Copland seem so dashed off, out of context, and uninspired, one can't help but suspect if in some small way Mr. Manasse is throwing in the towel.



What an unprecidented feat - to record the three major clarinet concerti on one CD. There are few players past and present that could have pulled this off, and I so very much wanted/needed Jon Manasse to succeed. In fact, I had no reason to think this would be anything but a home run. Alas, besides this missed golden opportunity, something bigger is evident here. For me, this recording is a death knoll for the Classical recording industry. Fewer and fewer of the world-class symphonies are recording the repertoire, and this void is being filled quickly by Eastern European orchestras on budget-conscious labels. It's capitalism at its best, or perhaps worst, and clearly the audience is getting what it's paying for. A world-class project like this deserved a world-class team. One star player cannot win the World Series, and I'm praying that Mr. Manasse will be pickier about whom he partners with from here on out. While there is no shortage of very good clarinetists issuing good CDs, short is the roster of star clarinetists capable of producing an imperishable recording."

Jon Manasse is the reigning King of the "American Sound"

R. Goonan | Corpus Christi, TX United States | 07/01/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fine CD for clarinet fans looking for an example of the pure "American" sound. Of course, Robert Marcellus was the gold standard for this type of sound, and though Jon Manasse's sound does differ from The Master's signature liquid legato, his tone is full, focused and as perfect as a sine wave.The Mozart overall has a few interpretations that I wouldn't take if I were playing it, namely the eingang/cadenza after the second fermata in the Allegro and his laying back on selected 16th note runs, but that eingang is probably the most shining example of Manasse's gorgeous sound on the entire disc. And you clarinetists out there will be left breathless upon hearing the softest pianissimo imaginable after the eingang in the Adagio, with both JM and the orchestra playing barely above a whisper.I'm not very knowledgeable about the Nielsen, having never heard Drucker's benchmark recording, but he seems to impart the frantic, disturbed nature of it very well. This piece really is an acquired taste. The one that wears out my CD players the most, however, is the Copland. This is the polar opposite of Benny Goodman -- here a player firmly rooted in the classical dabbles in jazz (disclaimer -- it's been years since I've heard BG's recording and can't really remember its finer points). The slow section is practically a master class in sustained beauty and smoothness; I can only imagine the stamina Manasse must have to phrase some of those themes without bursting a lung. The cadenza is JM's real masterpiece, combining his powerful, confident classical smoothness with just a hint of vibrato here and there to remind you that, after all, this IS rooted in jazz. I believe JM takes the second movement of this more lightly that Copland and BG intended, playing the major themes as light as a feather but packing a big punch in the tutti sections. But, oh, how I adore that light touch! I got the sense, though, the orchestra (the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra) wasn't quite able to find a Copland-esque groove that an American orchestra could settle into. But that's a minor quibble, and they delivered a fine job nonetheless.This disc, along with all JM's others, should be staples of any clarinet enthusiast's library.(4 1/2 stars -- points deducted only for disagreements with interpretation of the Mozart and for the orchestra itself.)"