The Fidelio Podcast
Recording engineer and producer, Dirk Fischer, chats about his career with Marie over coffee in St. Truiden, Belgium, where they have just finished recording Brahms Clarinet Sonatas and Trio with historical instruments.
info_outline Ep. 34: Brahms Mini-Series 3, Claire-Lise DémettreThe Fidelio Podcast
Marie sat down with historical cellist, Claire-Lise Démettre, to talk about Romantic-period string playing and techniques. They discuss Claire-Lise's cello and set-up, what it feels like to play gut strings, portamento, different kinds of vibrato – and those special moments that don't require anything from the player, when the music is just beautiful enough on it’s own.
info_outline Ep 33: Brahms Mini-Series 2, InspirationsThe Fidelio Podcast
This episode is very personal. Marie plays some short examples of various tracks from the new historically informed Brahms recording and talks about the inspirations, stories, experiences, and influences behind each example.
info_outline Ep. 32: Brahms Mini-Series, IntroductionThe Fidelio Podcast
The Brahms Mini-Series corresponds to the recent release of a new CD of the Brahms Works for Clarinet and Piano with Marie Ross (clarinet), Petra Somlai (piano), and Claire-Lise Démettre (cello).
info_outline Ep 31: A Composition ContestThe Fidelio Podcast
Marie Ross has started the first ever clarinet event in New Zealand, the University of Auckland Clarinet Weekend. She also holds a composition contest for new works for clarinet each year. In this episode, she speaks to last year's first prize winner, Joshua Pearson, about his piece Teine Sa. She talks about the contest itself, and how it will be organized differently this year for the most impact and benefit of the community.
info_outline Ep. 30: David CrowellThe Fidelio Podcast
David Crowell is a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, playing woodwinds, and is a genre-crossing composer in his own right, leading his own band, Empyrean Atlas. His music has been said to be a mix of classical, jazz, pop, post-punk, African, ambient, and minimalism. David has played all over the world with the Philip Glass Ensemble, and chats to Marie about what it is like to play huge works such as Einstein on the Beach.
info_outline Ep. 29: Posy KnightThe Fidelio Podcast
Posy Knight is a dancer, choreographer, actor, scenic designer, director, and arts educator. Marie chats with her about all the threads of her artistic life, how they fit together, and how she uses her creativity to better her local community in Milwaukee.
info_outline Ep. 28 Franklin Cohen Part 2The Fidelio Podcast
Marie chats with clarinetist, Franklin Cohen, from the Cleveland Orchestra about the Munich Competition, Leopold Stokowski, and Frank even gives some practice tips - which he manages to relate back to everything else about life.
info_outline Ep. 27: Franklin Cohen Part 1The Fidelio Podcast
Marie talks with Franklin Cohen, Grammy award winning clarinetist and Principal Clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra for 39 seasons.
info_outline Ep. 26: Teaching CreativityThe Fidelio Podcast
Marie talks about her journey from being a full-time performer to also including a teaching position at The University of Auckland.
info_outlineRecording engineer and producer, Dirk Fischer, chats about his career with Marie over coffee in St. Truiden, Belgium, where they have just finished recording Brahms Clarinet Sonatas and Trio with historical instruments.
Dirk talks about his role in the recording process, and how it is much more artistically crucial than most people think. The sound engineer (or 'Tonmeister', which is the revered German title - literally 'Sound Master') sits apart in an enclosed booth, but is really directing the artists, listening with highly-trained ears, and making many decisions of how the final recording is put together.
Some think that the recording process is magic - that a recording can make any musician sound good. And others think that a recording is just like a live concert, played once in real-time. The reality is more of a grey area, although as Dirk says, "if you can't play it, I can't produce it."
Dirk has a passion for recording sound - and for collaborating with artists creatively - to produce award-winning recordings. This passion has led him to work with the most prestigious labels early in his career, and eventually to found his own label, Solaire Records.
“In many respects, [Solaire Records] is going back to the early days of recording, where labels had a much stronger and all-encompassing identity. We need to have every aspect of a release work together: the artist’s intentions, a long- and short-term concept, a stimulating choice of repertoire and a deep understanding of how the recording translates all of this.”
Read more about Dirk Fischer: fischerdirk.com
And about Solaire Records: solairerecords.com