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Stanley Drucker, who has been playing clarinet with the New York Philharmonic for 60 years, is retiring from the orchestra, but continuing to perform. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times) |
Classical Notes
At 80, Drucker set for next stage
Last week, Stanley Drucker played his last concert with the New York Philharmonic. That may seem unremarkable - musicians join and leave orchestras every year, the orchestras coalesce around new players, and everyone moves on. But Drucker, a clarinetist, is not most musicians.
Sometimes numbers help to tell the story, and in his case they are staggering. Drucker was a member of the Philharmonic for 60 years, 48 of them as principal clarinet. He has played some 10,200 concerts - including 191 solo appearances - under 10 music directors and countless guests. The Philharmonic estimates that around 40,802,500 people have attended a concert in which he performed. Drucker - who plays two concerts with the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society next week - is more than a mainstay; indeed, for many of the orchestra’s regular listeners, it will be difficult to imagine the Philharmonic without him.
I reached Drucker last week in Vail, Colo., where the orchestra has played a two-week summer residency for the last seven years. The day after our conversation, he was to play his final concert with the Philharmonic, under its music director designate, Alan Gilbert. But if he was feeling nostalgic or melancholy, he didn’t let on. Drucker sounded like a man deeply satisfied with his accomplishments and, improbably for an 80-year-old, ready for the next chapter.
“I have a full memory bank,’’ he said, betraying no loss of enthusiasm for his craft. “It’s been my entire life, since I was a teenager. It’s amazing - one never plans to spend 60 years in this kind of a post. But it just happened.
“And actually, it feels like it happened very quickly,’’ he added. “I remember vividly my 50th anniversary with the orchestra. And those [last] 10 years really flew.’’
To bring home just how much of the Philharmonic’s history Drucker has been privy to, consider that he was hired in 1948 by the legendary Bruno Walter, a protégé of Gustav Mahler and a link to the musical legacy of late 19th-century Europe. Drucker remembers clearly his first rehearsal with the orchestra: It was in Carnegie Hall, and Dmitri Mitropoulos - who would soon succeed Walter as music director - was conducting Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra.’’
“The sound was overwhelming, amazing,’’ said Drucker, who had previously played in orchestras in Indianapolis and Buffalo. “I came to New York with a little bit of background, thinking I was hot stuff. But I found out quickly I had a lot to learn.
“But I had great teachers,’’ he continued. “Every rehearsal I got to listen to players like [cellist] Leonard Rose and [concertmaster] John Corigliano and [principal horn] James Chambers,’’ three other Philharmonic legends.
While Drucker is reluctant to single out any of the music directors he played under, he harbors special memories of Leonard Bernstein, who named him to the principal chair in 1960. Among his proudest achievements is the concerto composed for Drucker, Bernstein, and the Philharmonic by John Corigliano (son of the aforementioned concertmaster), as well as recordings of works by Nielsen and Debussy.
But it is their version of Aaron Copland’s tender, jazzy clarinet concerto that is Drucker and Bernstein’s signal achievement. The recording (on Deutsche Grammophon) has sentimental significance for Drucker: It was recorded during Bernstein’s final performances with the orchestra, in October 1989. A few months later, he played in a multinational orchestra in Bernstein’s concert commemorating the opening of the Berlin Wall. Less than a year later, the conductor died.
“There’ll never be another one like him,’’ said Drucker of Bernstein. “He was bigger than life and gifted in so many directions, just an intuitive talent that couldn’t be denied.’’
Asked why he decided to leave now, Drucker answered, “I don’t think there’s a principal player on any instrument playing at the age of 80 at any major orchestra. I thought it was the right time because I feel as good as I ever did. And to be able to wave farewell in this part of my career feeling that way is a good thing. I’ve seen colleagues sort of fade, and it’s not pleasant.’’
Besides, he added, “I won’t have to commute daily on the Long Island Railroad. It’s an hour and 15 minutes door to door.’’
Not everyone agrees with his timing, though. “Riccardo Muti said to me, ‘Why are you retiring?’ I said, ‘Look, I’m 80 years old.’ And he said, ‘So, why don’t you stay until you’re 85?’ ’’
Drucker’s immediate plans include his annual, monthlong cruise up the Atlantic coast, with a stop in the Vineyard for next week’s concerts. (He’ll be playing Debussy’s Rhapsody for clarinet and piano and Bartok’s Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano.) Beyond that, he plans to use his newfound freedom to play recitals and chamber music, and to give master classes.
“See, if you can play, you never stop playing,’’ he said. “It’s like a painter. They never stop painting if they can hold the brush. So I expect to be present in a lot of things.’’
Monday at Old Whaling Church, Edgartown; Tuesday at Chilmark Community Center, Chilmark; 508-696-8055, mvcms.org
Fogel in New Hampshire
As the bustling summer music festival season begins to wind down, it’s worth noting that Henry Fogel is completing his first season as director of the New Hampshire Music Festival. Fogel is a giant in the orchestra world - he spent 18 years as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is a widely heeded orchestra consultant. Fogel also has a blog called On the Record on the ArtsJournal website.The festival’s final concerts take place next week.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
