Eli eban plays what clarinet
Eban tours extensively as a chamber musiciancollaborating with world-renowned artists and ensembles. He has been guest artist with the Alexander, Audubon, Orion, St. While at Marlboro, he was invited by legendary Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh to perform at the Prussia Cove festival in Englandwhere he drew critical acclaim from The Guardian for his "high-powered, electrifying performances".
Eban was a member of Myriad, a chamber ensemble formed by members of the Cleveland Orchestra for seven years, and has often traveled to Eastern Europe to perform and teach as a visiting artist of the European Mozart Foundation.
Eli eban plays what clarinet
He divides his time between teaching at Indiana Universityperforming with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestraand touring as a soloist and chamber musician. His summers are spent performing and teaching at the Sarasota Music Festival and playing principal clarinet in the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. The five variations are sharply differentiated: the first introduces an entirely new theme, full of wide skips, played by the clarinet as the quartet repeats the opening theme, several feature virtuosic parts for the clarinet and first violin, and the third opens with a plaintive episode for viola over rich accompaniment from the other voices.
And now Mozart springs a surprise: the stirring conclusion of the fourth variation gives way to an expressive Adagio that is really a fifth variation. This long and moving variation complete, the music jumps back to its opening tempo, and the Clarinet Quintet concludes with a jaunty coda derived from the first half of the original theme. At age 57, he felt that he was done composing.
Both quintets begin with the opening idea fully stated by the quartet, and only then does the clarinet rise from the depths, climb into its upper register, and assume its central role. These three theme-shapes will appear in some form throughout the entire movement. At the stormy climax, the theme of the first two bars is heard over fierce swirls in the clarinet, and the movement dies away to conclude with the quiet of the beginning.
The Adagio is in ABA form, beginning with a simple clarinet theme over quiet accompaniment from the strings. Yet this subdued opening brings extraordinarily complex rhythmic textures. The middle section brings a sound that is, by Brahmsian standards, exotic. The principal themes of the final two movements are closely related, giving the Quintet an even greater feeling of unity.
He has also recorded for the Saphir, Crystal and Naxos labels. He was a member of "Myriad" a chamber ensemble formed by members of the Cleveland Orchestra and has often traveled to Eastern Europe to perform and teach at the invitation of the European Mozart Foundation. Both finales - here and in the Mozart - end in variations and they are charmingly inflected and characterized in both cases.
To add to the pleasure there are fine booklet notes and an excellently judged recording. Jonathan Woolf. Donate and keep us afloat. All Naxos reviews.