Advantages: Covers all aspects of playing/history of clarinet
Disadvantages: May be too in depth for the average player!

...If you play the clarinet and interested in finding out a little more about it than the fact that it’s black, about 2 feet long with a single reed, try Jack Brymer’s “Clarinet” from the Yehudi Menuhin Series. If you don’t play the clarinet, may I ask why not?! You can pick one up quite cheaply and they are as easy to learn in the early stages as the recorder, but sound a lot cooler-go on- I dare you! Once you’ve mastered the basics this book will serve as a valuable friend and teacher through the more taxing grades. I picked it up at about grade 5, and still pick it up for advice today, with a music degree under my belt. If you’re vaguely serious about the instrument, it’s worth the mere £9.95 it will put you out of pocket. A word on the author- Jack Brymer was clarinet king. His recordings of the Mozart clarinet concerto and quintet... Read review

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Advantages: It is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written
Disadvantages: How dare you ask of any disadvantges!?!

...of agitated questioning ("What do you want? What is happening?") with gentle string heaves trying to calm the soloist down. For a moment the soloist does calm down for a sorrowful refrain from the strings, clarinets and horns that tries to cry, but are too feeble, faltering down into sobs. The cello, now almost trying to comfort the orchestra with a hesitatingly rising scale allows the orchestra to form what it has been trying to say. The violas launch into the 9/8 lament Elgar wrote after his surgery, which has become the most widely known melody of the concerto. This is the first idea that Elgar came up with; it is this melody that most readily identifies the concerto's fame of "autumnal feeling and regret of a world gone away"; it is this melody Elgar hummed on his death bed to his friend and said: "If ever after I'm dead you hear someone... Read review

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Advantages: Good tuba muisc
Disadvantages: None

...The tuba has generally been ignored as a solo instrument, and although it enjoyed some success in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and the operas of Wagner, it didnt really emerge as a solo instrument until the 20th century. However, recently the tuba's potential as a soloist has been realised through the children's tale, Tubby the Tuba, where the whole point of the story is to highlight the fact that most peoploe would not think the tuba of being capable in taking a soloistic role, but the fact that it can take this role, and take it extremely successfully is shown here in this CD with these four Tuba Concerti, that were all written in the years after Tubby the Tuba. The first Tuba Concerto on the CD is Tuba Concerto (1978) by Edward Gregson. 1 - Allegro deciso 2 - Lento e mesto 3 - Allegro giocoso This concerto begins... Read review

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Advantages: The Best Recording Ever
Disadvantages: None

...echoes his mental state at that time. It’s not a happy piece; it’s dramatic, wistful, yearning and at times downright angry. It combines lyricism with spikiness and is disquieting. It’s an excellent piece to listen to if you’re feeling a bit miserable and want to wallow self-indulgently for half an hour, perhaps with a glass of rather strong red wine and a good brie. Don’t listen to it with anyone else and make sure it’s on quite loud for full anguish. The Concerto is in four movements; I: adagio-moderato, II: lento-allegro molto, III: adagio, and IV: allegro-moderato-allegro, ma non troppo. (For the unenlightened, these ‘names’ just refer to how fast the music goes). I The Concerto starts with heart-wrenching, deep cello notes, which are echoed by the clarinet, in a pensive, tearful... Read review

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Advantages: One of the most Romantic concertos around, full of beautiful melodies and passion
Disadvantages: over-recorded

...INTRODUCTION Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was one of the most promising composers emerging from Russia after Tchaikovsky. His early works included the youthfully energetic Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op.1, an orchestral fantasia The Rock, the opera Aleko, several songs, piano pieces (including the famous Prelude in C sharp minor, a work that would plague Rachmaninov with its popularity throughout his life) and the First Symphony in D minor, Op.13. Rachmaninov had high hopes for the latter; it was his magnum opus up until that time. However the symphony proved to be the biggest disappointment of his career, causing a tremendous crisis in his creative life. All the critics jumped on the work, most notably César Cui who compared it with the Seven Plagues of Egypt and condemned the work as modernist trash. The effect... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to begin with - a huge choice of music written for clarinet
Disadvantages: can be confusing when transposing to concert pitch.

..., it is not so easy to get past the intermediate stage of clarinet playing to the advanced. The clarinet has a particularly large range of notes - over three octaves. There are many techniques to learn, and getting out the highest notes on a clarinet with any control and clarity can prove extremely challenging for many players. There are many well known pieces of music written especially for clarinets - Mozart's clarinet concerto, and Brahms' two sonatas are very popular. There are also two clarinets in the average orchestra, and plenty of opportunities for playing clarinet in wind and jazz bands. Possibly the main problem that comes with playing the clarinet is the confusion of pitch. Most players begin on a Bb clarinet - and here's the complicated bit! Playing the note C on the clarinet is not the same as the note C on the piano, or violin... Read review

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Advantages: Bright tone, looks nice, good case
Disadvantages: Doesn't come cheap...

...To say I was 'languishing' on my old Buffet E11 would probably be an understatement, and a year or so ago I decided it was time to move up to a professional model clarinet. The choice is overwhelming, and I would always recommend trying out new instruments before you buy them, but here's a hint in the right direction - the Buffet RC Prestige is perhaps the best clarinet in the Buffet range, and Buffet know how to make good clarinets! In finding the right clarinet I must have tried close on 20 different clarinets, which ranged in price quite considerably. I tried Yamaha, Leblanc, Buffet and many other makes, but time after time found myself returning to the make I know and trust - that indeed being Buffet. This is with good reason too - the sheer quality of all the clarinets that they make is surely unrivalled, and the clarinets sit... Read review

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Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

...As a fantastically talented eighteen-year-old, Anne-Sophie Mutter already awed me with her sensitive and thoughtful eloquence in her 1981 recording of the Brahms violin concerto (with Herbert von Karajan directing the Berlin Philharmonic). However, there’s an even deeper understanding in Mutter’s reading of the Brahms piece on this newer disc. This performance was taped live at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, New York City, in 1997. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic in particularly inspired fashion. A difference of fifteen years separates the two recordings. In the time between, she married, had children, and then was widowed at a very young age. When Mutter returned to her instrument, she would bring a greater strength, emotional depth and insight to her playing, lending a maturity and assuredness to her... Read review

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Advantages: Classic Concertos for Everybody
Disadvantages: Strings only!!!no woodwind...boo!

...prominent. Thus Vivaldi wrotes sonnets to accompany his music and to establish each thought in his mind. It is obvious to say then that Concerto is labelled Spring through to Winter, with three movements within each season. Most form again adopts the ABA construction, a favorite of Vivaldi. These are as follows: 1: Spring: Concerto No.1 in E Major Allegro / Largo / Allegro This I think, is the most well known of the Concertos, and has been used on numerous car adverts and airline adverts. This is what most people remember Nigel Kennedy playing at the very beginning of Nigel Mania!!!! The string compostion reflects the freshness of spring and depending on what recording you buy (trust me there is loads of choice!) this normally sells the album, this movement is the most played also by a leading Classical Radio. 2: Summer: Concerto... Read review

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Advantages: Great Quality and Sound
Disadvantages: A bit expensive

...After starting the clarinet at school i asked for a buffet B12 clarinet for christmas. I kept this clarinet until the last year of my A levels but my clarinet teacher advised me that i needed a new one to progress further. Because of this i then started to try many different clarinets. I tried nearly every model and every make and narrowed it down to a Buffet RC and a Buffet R13. The reason i chose an RC prestige was because of the dark mellow german tone compared to the R13 prestige which gives a brighter french tone. This clarinet served me well through my degree, i gained a first in major performance with this clarinet and enjoyed every minute of practicing with it. now i am a woodwind teacher i would always tell the pupils to go for Buffet as they make outstanding clarinet. Even the most basic models are well built and sound good... Read review

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