Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman put his trust in his mentor and followed his heart. With more than 50 recordings under his belt, two Grammy Awards and a resume packed with famous collaborators in major halls worldwide, his versatility is not equaled. This week he performs his Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Alexandria Symphony conducted by Kim Allen Kluge.
“Every time I perform it, it’s overwhelmingly a new experience,” he said. “There’s always the expectation of what is going to happen. Mozart wrote this piece to express his joy and gratitude without any attempt to show how good a composer he was.
“In this work, Mozart often has the clarinet playing second fiddle to the first violin. Other times, it bounces off the bassoon, but the work is always a delight.”
| Onstage |
| Richard Stoltzman |
| Where: Schlesinger Center, 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria |
| When: 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: $35, seniors $30, students $10, youth 18 and under $5; 703-548-0885; alexsym.org |
No clarinet player today can emulate Stoltzman’s distinctive, pure sound. The secret is the double-lip embouchure he learned from his teacher, the late Kalmen Opperman. The technique requires that he not let his teeth touch the mouth piece.
“It calls for using my lip muscles to make my mouth a little more open so that the reed vibrates,” he said. ” I can feel it inside my head and the sound is morel like that of a human voice. It wasn’t easy at first because it hurt. The clarinet I play today is the same one I began with except for a succession of mouthpieces. In addition, Opperman liked to scrape the inside of the instrument’s barrel to perfect the sound.”
Stoltzman’s discography knows no boundaries. Among many others, he has recorded works by Bach, Bartok, Ives, Corigliano, Copland, Gershwin, Debussy and Elton John. On television, he has appeared on PBS specials with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, with the Boston Pops Orchestra under John Williams on its 100th anniversary, and with vocalists Joe Williams, Judy Collins and Mel Torme.
“Each time an audience hears the Mozart Concerto or another of his great works, I want them to discover something about themselves,” he said. “His music was written out of pure human energy that doesn’t stop for time and space. It’s an aesthetic primal force, a basic feeling of goodness and awe. For 25 minutes, you are no longer being bombarded by superficiality. There is nothing but humor connecting with others and creating harmony. We should be thankful that human beings do this for other humans. You should open up your heart, be still and breathe, and let the music find your heart.”
