"THE AUDIENCE WAS IMMEDIATELY ON THEIR FEET FOR A STANDING OVATION"

2012-04-02 | Los Angeles Times and Hollywood today reviews Fröst´s Debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic

”There are just not enough superlatives to describe the amazing performance of Martin Frost. He is certainly the reigning exponent of the clarinet today with a performance style totally unique and technically astounding. Entering the stage in a white piped outlined suit looking like a character from Tron, he mesmerized the audience in a composition written for him by the brilliant composer Kalave Aho Some of the technical effects he accomplishes with his instrument seem impossible and are played effortlessly. Harmonics and double stop sounds turn the clarinet into an other worldly instrument.
The piece begins with the movement, Tempestoso, a dramatic and long movement with unison string writing with a gorgeous middle section. This is followed by a virtuoso cadenza for solo clarinet that tests the possibilities of the instrument. Frost is one of the true rock stars of the classical world. The clarinetists in the orchestra told me afterwards that they could not believe what he can do on this instrument. The Vivace was a technical firework with constant tempo and meter changes that was a challenge for the conductor also. For both artists however, it was a piece of cake. The following Adagio was beautiful with incredible sound effects reminding one of desert music. Last in the work was the Epilogo (Misterioso) that ended with broken sounds in the clarinet fading away to silence. The audience was immediately on their feet for a standing ovation. This was rewarded by a fantastic encore with both soloist and orchestra of a Klezmer piece that was arranged for clarinet and orchestra by the brother of Martin. This was also a brilliant performance played in a lightning tempo and I hope that he will return to this stage often in the future.”

”The fast parts,though, were what dazzled, thanks to the virtuosity of the clarinet writing and of Fröst's performance..

Intermission talk, though, was all about Fröst’s tonguing, which is the fastest in the West. Aho’s concerto is a 28-minute show piece for the Swedish clarinetist. ..his playing, went through a dazzling panoply of clarinet special effects, tricks with fingers, lips and tongue. One wow moment followed the next.”

Los Angeles Times




 Instantencore

The Clarinet Concerto followed, and Martin Fröst made it clear he knows how to put on a show. (Fröst has recorded the concerto along with Nielsen's clarinet concerto under Vänskä for bis.) He arrived in a dark suite covered unexpectedly in white piping suggesting that Mr. Thibaudet may now be handing out the phone number of his personal tailor. If Aho’s concerto is anything, it sits firmly in the standard concerto model designed to highlight a players virtuosity. Five minutes in to the thirty minutes work I began to measure my own breaths wondering how Fröst could play so much so fast without ever seeming to breath. There were a couple of oases of calm in this seas of notes, most notably in the final movement, but the clarinet part is relentless.

Fröst followed up with the inevitable Klezmer encore which also seemed popular with the crowd who thankfully did not dissolve into clapping.