MAKE THE SOUND OF THE CLARINET VIBRATE WITH YOUR SOUL ...
Welcome dear Readers,
We’re going through outstanding times. Therefore its possible to announce a few concerts only.
On this website you can find out more about me and my work. I greet you from Spain, near Alicante, where I mainly live today for family and private reasons.
Stay safe, be well -
Yours Walter Seyfarth
Walter Seyfarth plays Clarinets in A, B, D und E flat by Herbert Wurlitzer Neustadt/Aisch.
WALTER
SEYFARTH
WALTER SEYFARTH - Clarinet
was born in 1953 and is native of Düsseldorf. In the age of 16 he won the first prize of the Association of German Musicians competition. Following his studies at the Freiburg Musikhochschule under Peter Rieckhoff and as scholarship holder of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy with Karl Leister, he was appointed 1975 to the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra as 3rd deputy 1st clarinetist with an obligation to play an E-flat clarinet. In 1985 he joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as solo E-flat clarinetist until his retirement in March 2020. In that time he performed under Herbert von Karajan, Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle and Kirill Petrenko among others.
1988 he founded the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet with which he toured worldwide in Europe, North and South America , Australia, Israel ,China, Japan, Taiwan. Numerous CD recordings where exclusively produced for BIS records and received critical acclaim. He was also member of the larger wind ensemble “ Winds of the Berlin Philharmonic”.
As a teacher, he continues to teach at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and further as tutor since 2019 at the Academy for Music Berlin and from 2020 on also at the Anton Rubinstein Academy Berlin.
He was clarinet teacher and woodwind coach for the Youth Orchestra Program in Venezuela “El Sistema” and gave Clarinet Masterclasses in Europe, Asia, North-and South America. During his stay in 2012 for the Festival “Musica em Trancoso” (Brazil) he got to know the Brazilian Pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano with his Bossa Nova Quartet. Together with them he recorded a DVD with the title “Joined” which was nominated 2017 for the Latin Grammy Award. The composers Albert Lortzing and Ferdinand Ries belong to his ancestors.
SEYFARTH
Walter Seyfarth recorded many CD’s with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet for the Swedish Label BIS. You can listen them attached here.
The following 10 Video excerpts were made available with the kind permission of the Digital Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra:
:
from: H. Berlioz,
Symphonie fantastique op. 14,
Conductor: C. Abbado, 19/05/2013
from: L. Berio,
Sequenza IXa for clarinet solo
16/06/2012
from: M. Ravel, Daphné & Chloé
Suite No 2,
Conductor: Y. Nézet-Séguin, 16/06/2012
from: M. Ravel, Piano Concerto G Major,
Conductor: T. Sokhiev / Soloist: J.-Y. Thibaudet
22/04/2016
from: D. Schostakowitsch,
Sinfonie No 6,
Conductor: A. Nelsons, 08/03/2013
from: I. Stravinsky,
Le Sacre du Printemps,
Conductor: Sir S. Rattle, 03/06/2017
from: M. Ravel, Bolero,
Conductor: Sir S. Rattle,
Concert Waldbühne, 26/06/2005
from: G. Mahler, Symphony No 9,
Conductor: B. Haitink,
03/12/2017
from: L. Bernstein, On The Town,
Conductor: Sir S. Rattle,
Concert New Year´s Eve, 2017
from: R. Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel,
Conductor: D. Barenboim
„Carioquinha“, Waldir Azevedo
from the live DVD „JOINED“
Piano: Cesar Camargo Mariano
SEYFARTH
The clarinetist stands alone on the stage of the darkened Philharmonic, in front of him three music stands , along which he moves to make music, and plays “Sequenza IXa”. It’s a piece from Luciano Berio from the series of solo compositions for various instruments that he has written in order to develop modern virtuosity in the spectrum of tonal possibilities, variations and gestures. With Walter Seyfarth it becomes more than a demonstration of his skills. He belongs to the orchestral soloists of the Orchestra with whom the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra can flaunt, because he creates from his own Imagination. His Interpretation is born out of the melody, even if it breaks out in a hurry. Associations are Cathy Berberian singing and “The Shepard on the Rock” from Franz Schubert.
Sybill Mahlke, Tagesspiegel, short&critical
Berlin Philharmonic at Royal Albert Hall:
... and in Ravel´s Daphnis Suite, the astounding, not-quite-believable delicacy of the opening was offset by some enjoyably characterful playing in Danse, particularly from ... Walter Seyfarth.
Ivan Hewett, BBC Proms
There are the sensational clarinetists Wenzel Fuchs and Walter Seyfarth who, at a safe distance from one another, act like Angels and Devils. While Fuchs wrests the most exquisite floating tones from his instrument, the deeply reddened Seyfarth gasps of evil hell smoke in Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique.
Felix Stephan, Berliner Morgenpost
Nelsons cherishes more the Sound Sensations of Berlioz rather than addressing the eerie program. Meanwhile , the E-flat clarinet by Walter Seyfarth is devilishly exposed.
Sybill Mahlke, Tagesspiegel
Walter Seyfarths best diabolically wacky witch clarinet ever!
Hundert11
