Competition Finals: Clarinet
The top three competitors will go head-to-head in Franz Krommer’s popular clarinet concerto and virtuosic variations by Jean Françaix.
Competition partner
Programme
- Jean Françaix: Téma a variace pro klarinet a 11 smyčců
- František Vincenc Kramář-Krommer: Concerto No. 1 for Clarinet and Orchestra in E flat major Op. 36
Performers
- Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
- Marko Ivanović – conductor
While the harpsichord is a relative newcomer to the Prague Spring competition (first introduced to the event as recently as 1994), the clarinet is one of the earliest and, for Czech competitors, by far one of the most successful disciplines. The competition in this category was held for the first time in 1953, when it was won by Božena Kubicová, who was followed in subsequent years by Bohuslav Zahradník (1974), František Bláha (1977), Vlastimil Mareš (1981) and Kateřina Váchová (2002). Among the foreign winners we should certainly mention former principal clarinetist with the Opéra national de Paris Philippe Cuper (1986).
Mother-in-law swallowed by a shark
The three young artists who reach the final round will be tested in all respects by two stylistically very different works: the slender Classical lines of the popular clarinet concerto by Beethoven’s contemporary Franz Krommer, otherwise known as František Vincenc Kramář (1759–1831), a native of Kamenice in Moravia, and the playful but technically extremely difficult variations by Jean Françaix (1912–1997). While Françaix’s piece has an almost magical effect on the audience, the soloist will have a tough time… Yet, as the composer once stated: “Fortunately, clarinet players have masochistic tendencies,” while adding appreciatively: “We are far from the time when Jerome K. Jerome, listening to a clarinet, wrote that it reminded him of a mother-in-law being swallowed by a shark. Nowadays, clarinet players have turned into mermaids; and Odysseus’s bonds should be of steel.” The thrilling atmosphere of the finals will definitely keep you on the edge of your seats.
