Julian Bliss - Fast Rise to the Top
July 25th 2006 02:00
Last week when I was talking about Midori, I mentioned that there was an abundance of very high quality violin players in the world. While there are many virtuosos of all instruments world wide, simply due to popularity of instruments, violin and piano players dominate the numbers. When looking at young prodigies, occurrences of incredible talent on wind instruments are especially rare. While instrumental popularity plays a part, there is also the factor of simple physical inadequacies of youth. It is very difficult, for instance, for a young player to fully support the weight of the clarinet on their thumb and to reach all the required keys.
For this reason, most wind playing virtuosi don’t really emerge in a proper sense until at the very least, their mid to late 20s. It is especially surprising to find an exception to this in Julian Bliss, the 16 year old British clarinettist.
Astonishingly, Bliss began playing the clarinet at the age of 4. After trying recorder, cello, and violin, he is quoted as saying ‘I came alive when I was handed a clarinet. It was just the sound I wanted to make...I love the warm mellow quality of the clarinet, and I feel it is now an extension of me’. His appearance with musicians of high standing at the 2002 Prom at the Palace celebrations when he was only 13 sent ripples through the musical world. He has gained his Post Graduate Artist Diploma at Indiana University, and took first prize in the Concerto Soloists Young Artists Competition in Philadelphia. His teacher is Sabine Meyer, who is on the lips of many when asked who they could name among the best clarinettists in the world.
The company he keeps in Britain is equally impressive. He has played for Gervase de Peyer and Jack Brymer, both influential soloists, and is friends with Joseph Horovitz, the composer whose Sonatina he made a fine recording of on his debut album. This album, titled simply ‘Music for Clarinet and Piano’ with pianist Julien Quentin is a collection of works Bliss says he has found concert success with, or that personally interest him. The quality of this album led to him signing on as an exclusive EMI artist. To top this list of achievements he has performed with far too many orchestras to name both in his home country and around the world, and continues to have tours planned internationally.
My personal opinion of his playing as a musician and a clarinettist is that he sets unprecedented standards. Of the 7 or so recordings of the Francis Poulenc Sonata I have heard, he is one of 2 in my opinion that does it decent justice. His playing is not just flashy and filled with a calculated ‘wow factor’, but demonstrates a very intelligent understanding of what he’s playing and how he’s playing it. For any woodwind musicians out there, how many 15 year olds do you know that can play perfectly in tune? Bliss is an exception in many ways.
While he may be able to continue world tours for a while based on his youth and the novelty of young performers, ultimately, Bliss will grow up. And instead of fading into obscurity following his age induced fame, it is more likely that by this point he will be prepared to step out as a renowned, mature and intelligent performer. And hopefully, his personality will form just the pick-me-up the classical music world needs.
For this reason, most wind playing virtuosi don’t really emerge in a proper sense until at the very least, their mid to late 20s. It is especially surprising to find an exception to this in Julian Bliss, the 16 year old British clarinettist.
Julian Bliss
The company he keeps in Britain is equally impressive. He has played for Gervase de Peyer and Jack Brymer, both influential soloists, and is friends with Joseph Horovitz, the composer whose Sonatina he made a fine recording of on his debut album. This album, titled simply ‘Music for Clarinet and Piano’ with pianist Julien Quentin is a collection of works Bliss says he has found concert success with, or that personally interest him. The quality of this album led to him signing on as an exclusive EMI artist. To top this list of achievements he has performed with far too many orchestras to name both in his home country and around the world, and continues to have tours planned internationally.
My personal opinion of his playing as a musician and a clarinettist is that he sets unprecedented standards. Of the 7 or so recordings of the Francis Poulenc Sonata I have heard, he is one of 2 in my opinion that does it decent justice. His playing is not just flashy and filled with a calculated ‘wow factor’, but demonstrates a very intelligent understanding of what he’s playing and how he’s playing it. For any woodwind musicians out there, how many 15 year olds do you know that can play perfectly in tune? Bliss is an exception in many ways.
While he may be able to continue world tours for a while based on his youth and the novelty of young performers, ultimately, Bliss will grow up. And instead of fading into obscurity following his age induced fame, it is more likely that by this point he will be prepared to step out as a renowned, mature and intelligent performer. And hopefully, his personality will form just the pick-me-up the classical music world needs.
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