Virtuoso clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester plays Brahms with Vetta Chamber Music
The Spanish-born musician performs in the ensemble’s season-opening concert, the “B” Team
Jose Franch-Ballester was born into a family of clarinet players in Valencia, Spain.
Vetta Chamber Music presents the “B” Team on October 22 at West Point Grey United Church, October 23 and 24 at Pyatt Hall, and October 26 at ArtSpring.
JOSE FRANCH-BALLESTER was born into a family of clarinetists and Zarzuela singers in Moncofa, a small Spanish town on the Mediterranean Sea. By age nine he was taking clarinet lessons with virtuoso Venancio Rius, going on to study at the Joaquin Rodrigo Music Conservatory in Valencia and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Franch-Ballester has performed all over the world with the likes of BBC Concert Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and various orchestras in his native Spain, to name a few.
The musician—whom the New York Times once praised for his “technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm”—now calls Vancouver home, where he’s assistant professor of clarinet and chamber music at the University of British Columbia School of Music. Franch-Ballester has a full schedule for the coming concert season, with bookings that include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, Camerata Pacifica in Santa Barbara, and tours across the U.S. and Europe.
He kicks it all off with a date here for Vetta Chamber Music’s season-opening concert, the “B” Team, featuring works by Beethoven and Brahms.
“I love the clarinet’s tone,” Franch-Ballester tells Stir. “It sounds very close to the human voice. To me, my clarinet is an extension of my voice.”
For The “B” Team, Franch-Ballester will perform Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115. Written in 1891, it is one of the composer’s final works, which came during his re-emergence from retirement, his inspiration rekindled upon hearing Meiningen clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The piece is often described as autumnal, not only because it came near the end of Brahms’s life but also because of its subdued, nostalgic, and melancholic tones.
“This piece is very deep and spiritual,” says Franch-Ballester, who plays a made-in-Vancouver Backun clarinet. “It shows the vulnerability of the composer during this time of his life.”
Joining Franch-Ballester are Joan Blackman and David Gillham playing violin, Emilie Grimes on viola, and cellist Zoltan Rozsnyai.
The concert also features Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Opus 18 No. 1. The composer’s first version is believed to have been written in 1799; he then revised it, as he noted in a famous 1801 letter to violinist Karl Amenda: “Don't let anyone see your quartet as I have greatly changed it, as only now do I know how to write quartets properly”.
“It is playful, fun, and shows the mastery of the string instruments,” says Franch-Ballester. “It is so interesting to have this combination of pieces: Beethoven’s first string quartet and on the other hand, Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet, which was one of his last compositions. This is going to be a wonderful program to be part of.”
For more information, see Vetta Chamber Music.
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