Meeting with two clarinetists of the Göteborg Orchestra
Most of the clarinetists in the orchestra changed their clarinet for a Selmer. How did that happen?
SELENA : I was looking for an alternative to Buffet. I had tried many instruments and had not found anything that worked for me. I met up with Eric Leclerc in Oslo and he suggested that I try selmer. I had heard a lot about it, I have many colleagues in the states that play on selmer and they always say “you have to try it”.
HENRIK : And I needed a new instrument so we tried these clarinets and I liked them a lot. So that's why I started.
So you were the first to play a selmer clarinet in the orchestra?
SELENA : Yes. And when we came home the bass clarinetist tried a selmer bass clarinet and he loved it. He loved it so much that he bought it. Even though he had just bought a new one.
Could you explain why you love these clarinets?
SELENA : First of all they are very even, in all the registers, all the way up there is a nice sound, it never gets bright. The high register is really nice and the low register is not too flat so it felt very even and nice. It's also very comfortable to hold ; the keys are comfortable.
HENRIK : I agree, the intonation is really good in scales, you do not have to adjust with your lips, you can play really fluent. And there is a nice legato. I like the fact that when you play diminuendo or crescendo, the tone doesn't move intonation in the way that my old clarinet did. You don't have to adjust your lips all the time.
SELENA : You don’t have to work so hard, you just play.
HENRIK : You can make a great diminuendo without putting so much effort into intonation.
SELENA : But that's what it is, the whole clarinet : you don't have to work hard to play it. You don't have to adjust every note.
HENRIK : And it has a very beautiful sound. Especially when we play soft. It’s a warm sound.
What about the latest news and future projects of the orchestra ?
HENRIK : We have a lot of projects every week ! Like this japon tour in February.
SELENA : We also have an online concert. Our concerts are sometimes live, and other times we record them and then they are released on the website gsoplay.se. It’s our own TV channel broadcasting almost every concert every week. Recently, we did the Sibelius, Romeo and Juliet… Romeo and Juliet was the first concert we did with our Selmer clarinets, and it was something that was really great, it sounded really good.
Have you got anything to add?
SELENA : I would like to say that Selmer are great instruments, but the service, the way people meet us, is also realy impressive. I know Sebastien, Stephane, Eric... Everybody takes care of you.
HENRIK : Yeah it's really good to get this service. It’s fantastic to be able to come here and get help, directly from the factory people. We appreciate it very much.
Henri SELMER Paris, December 2019