Customer Reviews

Concertino Da Camera / Ballade Pour Saxophone Alto

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recording is nice, but the quality of the recording itself seems a little strange. It's rather muffled on my stereo system. I thought maybe it was the microphone or maybe the placement of the microphones-- I don't know, I'm not a recording engineer. When I first listened to it, I thought about what a shame it was that the CD sounds so muffled. It really obscures some of the shimmer the piece has.

Kelly's altissimo technique is decent, as it should be, since he quit school to study with the late Sigurd Rascher. There aren't many recordings of this piece around, and definitely not at this great price, so I would say buy it despite the spots and wrinkles.

And if you're a saxophone student, buy two and give one to a friend.

I'm not sure whether or not the recording is well done, but none the less I have problems with his performance style. Though his articulation is executed well, he has somewhat of a hollow tone to his playing, and the fact that he doesn't use vibrato much doesn't help him.

Although John Edward Kelly is a gifted saxophonist his tone sounds like its missing something, his minimum use of vibrato sounds as if he is an inexperienced saxophonist. In my mind nobody plays Ibert's Concertino de Camera like Marcel Mule(truly one of the most gifted saxophonist ever)

There is no other saxophonist like John-Edward Kelly. Once you've heard him, you can forget the rest of them, big names and all. His command of the instrument is unbelievable, his artistic maturity and musical taste beyond compare. There are many saxophonists, a few of which are even good musicians, but there is only one John-Edward Kelly. Period. If you only buy one recording with classical saxophone music, make it this one. It's the only recording of Martin and Ibert with all the high tones, and the most beautiful Larsson ever. Great playing, great orchestra, great pieces. It's only a pity that the rest of his CD's are so hard to find.

John Kelly would make Adolphe Sax proud with his concept of tone. Dark, round tone, great articulation, and good interpretation make this a great reference CD for sax players.

Of course, there is the war of saxophone worlds. There will be those that call Kelly's tone "hollow," and the same has been said of my playing. I use open chamber equipment myself, and enjoy that particular sound.

Rascher understood Sax's wishes, and I wish he had reached more people in his quest to educate saxophonists. I am trying...

John Edward Kelly is truly a unique saxophonist. While I don't like his tone that much, his decent technique and brilliant musicality shine through. His interpretations of the Ibert and Larsson are very good standards for these very popular pieces. The Martin, while not as popular as the other two, is still brilliantly presented and is worth a listen to. The only recording of the Ibert I would prefer over this is John Harle's, that's just my opinion. I would definitely recommend this cd especially at this price.