Spring Break
Sounds of love fill COFAC
Sara Gregory
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: The Edge
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With the help of a few faculty members, Ginsberg went through an impressive amount of clarinet repertoire with grace and no intermission. Usually the lack of a break creates a hostile audience, but this time I heard no complaining.
Ginsberg's rich clarinet sound reminded me of the movie "Love Actually." Well, not the movie, but the love theme that is played every time a character falls in love. Just as Colin Firth falls for his foreign maid, a solo clarinet floated over major chords and signals to the audience the feeling of love.
Film scores tend to give clarinets the solo love theme, and rightfully so.
The warm timbre of the clarinet can sound like a heart that is bursting (or breaking) and is commonly utilized by composers in the soaring upper range. Because of my association of clarinets with love themes, I can only describe Ginsberg's sound in one way: It's like falling in love.
The professor began his recital with "Grand Duo Concertant," a three-movement work by Carl Maria von Weber that showcased the clarinet's lighter, playful sound featuring scalar runs interwoven with the piano.
The musical interaction between Ginsberg and Dr. Chung-Ha Kim (the night's pianist and newest piano professor at Western) created a beautiful and conversational sound most musicians can only dream of. Kim's technical prowess shines at every one of her performances, and this night was no exception.
Next was the four-movement work "Marchenerzahlungen (Fairy Tales)" by Robert Schumann (or "Crazy Bob," as my music appreciation teacher called him) that exposed a serene, dreamlike sound and a more daring harmonic structure than the first piece.
Beautiful lines were followed by more assertive passages where the clarinet took a more commanding role in the ensemble. Istvan Szabo, Western's professor of viola, joined Ginsberg and Kim for this piece and added a wonderful mirror for the clarinet's musical statements.
The most recent of the repertoire, "Sonata" by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. closed the show. The three-movement work explored the dynamic possibilities of the clarinet with notes that faded into nothing.
One of my favorite aspects of Ginsberg's playing was his ability to play softly. He can really whisper a note to you in a way you'd only understand if you heard him play. One of the hardest things a musician can master is playing softly, and Ginsberg mastered this and more while making it seem easy.
The audience clearly appreciated the concert with several callbacks for bows, and faculty professors from the school of music eagerly lined up backstage to congratulate Ginsberg on his successful recital.
Maybe it's a bit corny to say Ginsberg's clarinet tone is like falling in love, but I just don't care. If you had heard the concert, you'd feel the same way.
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