“Like most members of the San Francisco Symphony, principal clarinetist Carey Bell operates in a tricky border realm between stardom and anonymity,” writes Joshua Kosman in Thursday’s (4/3) San Francisco Chronicle. “He spends his days as part of a larger ensemble, with few chances to spend an extended period in the spotlight. That changes this week. With Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt on the podium, Bell will serve as soloist in Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto, a ferociously difficult showpiece…. He began his career with the Syracuse Symphony in New York before … [joining] the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2001…. Once he got tenure with the Opera, Bell says he figured his auditioning days were over. But then [in 2005] David Breeden, the Symphony’s longtime principal clarinetist, died tragically at 58, and suddenly there was an opening across Grove Street…. Joining a symphony orchestra was a shift from the opera world. ‘In opera, the clarinet’s big moments happen during a letter-writing scene. They’re sad and you emote, and everyone’s listening—but they’re looking at what is on the stage. In symphonic music, you’re onstage and you’re it.’ ”
Posted April 3, 2014
