Umesh Shankar's Recordings Page

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Intro

I'm a clarinetist. Until the Spring of 2006, I was principal clarinetist of the UC Berkeley Symphony and I studied with Carey Bell, principal clarinetist of the San Francisco Opera. I previously studied with Scott Anderson (Honolulu Symphony), Thomas Hill (Boston Philharmonic/New England Conservatory), and Reesa Gringorten (New Haven Symphony and Orchestra New England) in reverse chronological order.
Now that I've finished my Ph.D., I have a real job at Google and I'm playing only recreationally. Maybe soon I'll play more. We'll see.

The following are recordings (mostly that I've made) of myself and others. My equipment and facilities are modest (see the equipment section below for details). These are live recordings with the attendant uncertainties. Still, questions and comments are welcome.

Contents (in chronological order):

Woodwind.org's 1st annual clarinet competition (10/2001)
Woodwind.org is pretty much the main web site for clarinetists.

1st Mvt. of Anthony's Wakefield's Hauntings for clarinet and piano, "Spooks and Spectres". With Monica Chew on piano. [MP3-high, 6.9MB]

*A solo clarinet arrangement of the Devil's Dance from Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat [MP3-high, 3.3MB]

Andante from Verdi's opera The Force of Destiny; the clarinet part alone [MP3-high, 6.5MB]

*Etude #26 from the Rose 32 Etudes [MP3-high, 3.3MB]

* Frankly, I am not too proud of these.

Debussy Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano

I played this for the UC Berkeley Symphony's 2001 Concerto Competition on 10/22/2001 with fellow CS grad student Monica Chew on piano.

Debussy Première Rhapsodie [MP3-high, 20.7MB] [MP3-low, 6.3MB]

Brass quintets performed and recorded by my brother

AJ recorded these onto DAT from his college brass quintet's performance in the Spring of 2000.
The complete personnel:
AJ: Trumpet 1
Nikhil Kacker: Trumpet 2
Kate Stewart: French Horn
Avik Chatterjee: Euphonium
Matt Pereira: Tuba

Malcolm Arnold Quintet, Movement 1 [MP3-high, 10.5MB] [MP3-low, 5.3MB]

Victor Ewald Quintet #1
Mvt. 1 [MP3-high, 12MB] [MP3-low, 6MB]
Mvt. 2 [MP3-high, 7.9MB] [MP3-low, 4MB]
Mvt. 3 [MP3-high, 8.9MB] [MP3-low, 4.5MB]

David Heckendorn Three Moods, Mood #2, "Chorale" [MP3-high, 3.3MB] [MP3-low, 1.7MB]

Concert in the National Center for the Performing Arts in Mumbai (Bombay).

Recorded by me.
Maya played in a chamber music festival designed to introduce Indians to Western classical music. It was, I think, a success. Below is one of the pieces, played on the last day of the festival.

Those playing in this piece were: Maya Shankar, violin; Wolfgang Schmidt, cello; Catherine Bradshaw, viola; Fali Pavri, piano.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Quartet op. 16 in E-flat major. (Originally quintet for piano, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn.)
Mvt. 1 [MP3-high, 17MB] [MP3-low, 10MB]
Mvt. 2 [MP3-high, 8.2MB] [MP3-low, 5.0MB]
Mvt. 3 [MP3-high, 8.2MB] [MP3-low, 4.9MB]

Schumann Fantasy Pieces / Brahms Clarinet Trio
Concert in UC Berkeley's Hertz Hall on February 20, 2002 (recorded by me)

Umesh Shankar, clarinet
Jody Redhage, cello
Monica Chew, piano

NOTE: The original recordings of the second and third movements were somewhat distorted. Alternate recordings of lower quality (but without clipping) are also available (Thanks to Jody Redhage for these!).

Robert Schumann, Fantasiestücke op. 73 for clarinet and piano
1. Zart und mit Ausdruck (Dolce espressivo) [MP3-high, 2.7MB] [MP3-low, 1.9MB]
2. Lebhaft, leicht (Vivace leggiero) [MP3-high, 3.6MB] [MP3-low, 2.4MB] [Alternate-MP3-high, 3.6MB]
3. Rasch und mit Feuer (Allegro con fuoco) [MP3-high, 3.9MB] [MP3-low, 2.6MB] [Alternate-MP3-high, 3.6MB]

Johannes Brahms, Trio in A minor op. 114 for clarinet, cello and piano
I. Allegro [MP3-high, 11MB] [MP3-low, 6.5MB]
II. Adagio [MP3-high, 10MB] [MP3-low, 6.2MB]
III. Andante grazioso [MP3-high, 6.7MB] [MP3-low, 4.0MB]
IV. Allegro [MP3-high, 6.1MB] [MP3-low, 3.6MB]

Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Concert in UC Berkeley's International House on September 17, 2003

I didn't record this concert; it was recorded by the music department staff recording person.

Umesh Shankar, clarinet
Quelani Penland, violin I
Adelaide Cheng, violin II
Jennifer Sheppard, viola
Daniel Chan, cello

Wolfgang Mozart, Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in A major, K. 581
I. Allegro [MP3-high, 11.8MB] [MP3-low, 7.2MB]
II. Larghetto [MP3-high, 7.2MB] [MP3-low, 4.5MB]
III. Menuetto [MP3-high, 9.1MB] [MP3-low, 5.6MB]
IV. Allegretto con variazioni [MP3-high, 12.2MB] [MP3-low, 7.6MB]

Ravel Habanera / Poulenc Sonata / Babar
Concert in UC Berkeley's International House on April 14, 2004 (recorded by me)

Umesh Shankar, clarinet (Ravel, Poulenc) and narration (Babar)
Monica Chew, piano

Maurice Ravel, Pièce en forme d'Habanera (arr. Hamelin) [MP3-high, 5.1MB] [MP3-low, 2.9MB]


Francis Poulenc, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
I. Allegro tristamente [MP3-high, 9.0MB] [MP3-low, 5.3MB]
II. Romanza [MP3-high, 8.1MB] [MP3-low, 4.7MB]
III. Allegro con fuoco [MP3-high, 6.0MB] [MP3-low, 3.5MB]

Francis Poulenc (music)/Jean de Brunhoff (story), "The Story of Babar the Little Elephant"[MP3-high, 42MB] [MP3-low, 21MB]

Mozart Clarinet Concerto - March 22, 2006 - Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley

Recorded by David Bowles of Swineshead Productions.

Umesh Shankar, clarinet
UC Berkeley symphony (cond. David Milnes)

Wolfgang Mozart, Concerto for Clarinet, K. 622
I. Allegro [MP3-high, 22MB]
II. Adagio [MP3-high, 14MB]
III. Rondo [MP3-high, 17MB]

Mozart Clarinet Concerto - April 9, 2006 - Orinda Community Church, Orinda, CA

Recorded by David Bowles of Swineshead Productions.

Umesh Shankar, clarinet
UC Berkeley symphony (cond. David Milnes)

Wolfgang Mozart, Concerto for Clarinet, K. 622
I. Allegro [MP3-high, 22MB]
II. Adagio [MP3-high, 14MB]
III. Rondo [MP3-high, 16MB]


The equipment used in recordings I made was: