The truth is my father always wanted me to study music
even before I was born...
It was his dream to have a musician son!
But it was never his intention for me to become a professional...
...he simply wanted me to make music with others.
The band's always been the first place
where children wanting to study more music can get together
and this is what I did too
playing the first instrument that they gave me.
In those days, there wasn't internet, there wasn't...
...Whatsapp, there weren't phone games, there weren't apps...
so we had fun with what there was...
The clarinet was a great toy!
Every time I play with a pianist
I thank heaven that I play the clarinet
because before going on stage I can warm up my instrument
something the pianist can't do!
He gets what he gets...!
I think pianists in general are a bit depressed for this
they travel the world giving concerts
but can't take their instrument with them
except for a few exceptions
so...
It's not easy always playing a different instrument...
They say that the instrument is the transposition of your own voice
so playing each time with a different voice
and trying to get it as close as possible to your own
so...
isn't easy...
The professor was of the opinion that I was hopeless at playing the clarinet
I'm using his words: "hopeless"
so he asked me to withdraw from the conservatory.
He told me that my lips were better adapted for the bassoon
I took his advice and took two weeks of bassoon
but I didn't like it, so...
...I left the conservatory.
I attended the Competition of Lyon because I wanted to see Lyon
I'd never been there before
and liked the idea of a three-day holiday!
Then there was the competition... and I won it!
It all happened like that, almost by chance...
Coming back to Italy, there was a lot going...
not just Berio's invitation.
But let's say that coming back was a bit of a shock
because...
...here everyday life is...
...much more complicated...
traffic, post, trains and so on...
In comparison with France, these are problems
But what can I say...
at the end of the history Rome's always sunny
and I believe that the quality of life is better in Italy than in France
and I know what I'm talking about because I lived in France for many years.
Playing with the Berlin Philharmonic...
you're surrounded by people who play really well
and this brings out the best in you...
It's easier to play with the Berliner in comparison to "normal" orchestras.
I used to call Abbado "Claudio", so for me he's "Claudio"...
The loss of Claudio is huge, because with him we've lost a dreamer
perhaps the last great dreamer...
We could say that the Mozart Orchestra was his latest toy...
He needed a toy to play with
to make music with, that thought in the same way as him
and so he came up with this...
... musical being
that he was able to mould within his hands for nearly ten years.
I've got hundreds of anecdotes involving him!...
One day we were playing Beethoven's Fourth Symphony, and...
...in the second movement, there's a very important solo for the clarinet.
You should know that Abbado never stopped
it was very easy playing with him.
It was a very rare thing for him to stop and make speeches...
Two words, and that was enough!
That day I don't know what was wrong with him...
He didn't like what I was doing with that solo!
He stopped me six times, I think
and each time he tried to explain to me what he wanted, but...
...I couldn't get what he was trying to say!
Really, no one could understand...
...the rest of the orchestra were all looking at me blankly...
At one point...
...he realized that he didn't even know himself what he was trying to say, and he said:
"Alessandro, it's great what you did, let's move on!"
The first time I noticed that...
...a piece of non-classical music could help me understand classical music
was the first time I heard Mina, the singer.
That woman has a musicality, an innate expressiveness, so natural, that...
...I realized many of these ideas could be inserted into a Brahms Sonata!
Just imagine how much kletzmer or jazz can do for cultivated music!
Bernstein said...
"There are two kinds of music: good music and bad music." That's it.
It all depends on how you play it, or how you think it…
...and the rest takes care of itself!
The few chamber music festivals that there are...
...are made up of 80% foreign artists!
and when you go abroad, you discover...
...that there aren't any Italian's!
This is something that really annoys me...
In Italy there's a law which encourages associations
from a financial point of view
to employ foreign artists over and above Italians.
Basically you pay less taxes, so...
...obviously lots of seasons focus on foreign artists
also because a foreign name...
...draws crowds and guarantees a better profit. So...
...rather than just increasing the number of Chamber Music Festivals
I'd like that the organizers would understand
that even here in Italy we've got musicians worth listening to!
I love running, but I never have the time because...
...I'm always having to blow into that tube!
Yes... the clarinet's definitely not "my life", I don't get into this sort of debate.
You can live just as peacefully without.
I had a "plan B": I did an apprenticeship as an electrician
so if it all went wrong at the conservatory I'd have been an electrician!
Even now (I'm a disaster!) I like opening things up...
and having a go at fixing them, though I end up destroying things!
At the moment Alessandro Carbonare doesn't have time to study
because he has too many concerts to do
and he tries to use the time of the concerts in order to study.
Let's say that over the years I have built
a very personal method of practice...
..but very practical
it's something which gives me a lot in a short time.
As soon as I see that I have a problem
I know how to fix it.
But, to be honest, right now I have such a lot of concerts...!
This year, in 2017, there's 150
so...
both in orchestra and alone
and with 150 concerts in a year... it's really hard to study!
No, I'do it all again!
You know that's a great question!?
I find myself faced with an alien and I improvise something
that shows what kind of person I am...
Maybe that's the best choice!
What a beautiful interview!
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