|
Master Class: Konradin Groth
Thursday, May 25 11:30am
Arthur A. Molitierno, Reviewer
Numerous trumpet enthusiasts were treated to a truly inspiring and content-filled master class conducted by one of Europe's finest trumpet players and teachers, Konradin Groth. Groth took Juilliard student Omar Butler through the difficult passages of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Groth first had Butler follow him closely in a short warm-up drill of slurs, tonguing studies, lip trills, and intervals. After particularly complex articulation suggestions that Butler followed with relative ease, the audience provided warm applause. That type of supportive encouragement is what Groth gave to the student throughout the lessons.
With each section in the Mahler piece, Groth first illustrated the dynamics, articulation, points of attack, length of notes, and so forth. Groth's playing examples were clearly followed and imitated by Butler, with the teacher often citing Butler for his excellent playing.
Groth's emphasis was not only on the musical nature of the performance, but also on the muscular nature of it too, with his primary emphasis being to breathe naturally (not to over inhale, for instance) and to maintain a consistent position of the mouthpiece and the embouchure throughout all passages. To this effect, he has also written some three texts of etudes to ensure facility in all types of slurred and tongued passages. Before the master class, he could be heard playing exercises from his own etudes, some that he introduced during the master class.
The master class ended with a request from the student for Groth to play the passages that he had just played for the master teacher. That brought not only applause from the audience, but also an equality of adulation from student and Groth. (Arthur A. Molitierno, associate professor of English, Wright State University) |
