Helmut Eisel

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Helmut Eisel

Helmut Eisel (born June 2, 1955 in Saarbrücken ) is a German clarinetist and composer .

Live and act

Helmut Eisel, who studied mathematics and worked as a software developer, learned the basics of playing the clarinet from his grandfather. During his studies (diploma 1985) he played in various jazz bands and gained his first experience as an arranger . The decisive factor was the meeting with Giora Feidman in 1989, with whom he has since worked repeatedly in workshops and concerts. Various CDs document the collaboration between the two clarinetists, including the Feidman CD The Spirit of Klezmer (2008), on which Helmut Eisel can be heard with two of his own titles.

Since 1993 Helmut Eisel has dedicated himself exclusively to music. In 1989 he founded the trio Helmut Eisel & JEM , which has produced ten CDs so far. In addition, he gives concerts in changing formations with artists of different genres up to choirs and symphonic wind orchestras. In 2002 the quintet "Helmut Eisel & Band" celebrated its premiere, which released the CDs "Hot Klezmer Clarinet" and "Klezmer at the Cotton Club". In 2004 he founded the German-Israeli Clarinet Gang . Since 2009 a collaboration with the gypsy swing guitarist Joscho Stephan , with whom Helmut Eisel u. a. performed at the Guitar Festival Rietberg ; In 2012 the joint CD "Gypsy meets the Klezmer" was released.

From 2004 Eisel discovered the crossover potential between Klezmer and classical music, from which the three family concerts Naftule and the King , a commission from the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern , 2004, Naftule und die Kinder , commissioned by the Staatskapelle Weimar 2010, and Naftule und die Reise to Jerusalem 2013 for symphony orchestra, klezmer ensemble or klezmer clarinet and narrator. The recording of Naftule and the King was nominated for the German Record Critics' Prize. In projects with the pianists Marina Baranova and Sebastian Voltz, he also explores the interfaces and points of contact between classical music, jazz and klezmer in a chamber music context. In 2009 he performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto for the first time in concerts in the Philharmonie Oppeln and in the Bad Gandersheim Cathedral , whose interpretation, inspired by klezmer style, he recorded on CD in 2010. In May 2011 he premiered his Suite for an Unknown Klezmer for basset clarinet and orchestra with the Staatskapelle Weimar under the direction of Stefan Solyom . Since 2013 Helmut Eisel has also been working with the Sebastian Voltz Trio; the first joint CD "Talking Sinatra" was released in April 2014.

Another focus of his work is on drama productions, which he influences as a composer as well as an actor and clarinetist. The first projects of this kind were Sobol's Ghetto ( Nationaltheater Mannheim , 1991) and Babel's Sunset (Theater Basel, 1993). In 2008 he played "Death" in Jedermann at the Gandersheim Cathedral Festival . In 2010 he appeared in the Iskender theater (as part of the Ruhr. 2010 Capital of Culture in the Zeche Zollverein ) and in the stage version of the film Wie im Himmel (Gandersheim Cathedral Festival).

Since 1993 Helmut Eisel has been leading Klezmer improvisation workshops in Germany, Israel and various European countries as well as seminars on music and communication for companies. Helmut Eisel has been a regular lecturer at the workshops Klezmer & the Clarinet in the Galilee in Safed and Jerusalem ( Israel ), which are under Feidman's direction and patronage, since 1992 .

Discography

  • 1991: Forget the Tears (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - plane / ARIS
  • 1993: The Spirit of Klezmer (Helmut Eisel and Asoj) - Koch international
  • 1994: Klezm'n Soul (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Westpark Music
  • 1996: Israeli Suite (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Westpark Music
  • 1998: Passions for Klezmer (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Westpark Music
  • 2000: Broken Silence (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Westpark Music
  • 2001: Eisel blows brandy (Helmut Eisel, Richard Ebersbach & Friends) - Westpark Music
  • 2002: Film music Between Heaven and Earth (Karl Heinz Heilig)
  • 2003: Hot Klezmer Clarinet (Helmut Eisel & Band) - Westpark Music
  • 2004: Midnight Dreamer (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Westpark Music
  • 2005: Naftule and the King (Helmut Eisel & JEM, RSO Saarbrücken , Marcus R. Bosch ) - Westpark Music
  • 2006: Klezmer in the Galilee (lecturers and participants in the workshops in Safed / Israel)
  • 2006: Klezmer at the Cotton Club (Helmut Eisel & Band) - Westpark Music
  • 2007: Impromptu (Helmut Eisel & Marina Baranova) - Neuklang
  • 2008: Giora Feidman - The Spirit of Klezmer (Helmut Eisel as guest) - plans
  • 2008: Clarinet Colors (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Neuklang
  • 2010: time change (Helmut Eisel & JEM with the Thuringian Chamber Orchestra Weimar, conductor: Martin Hoff ) - Animato
  • 2012: Gypsy meets The Klezmer ( Joscho Stephan & Helmut Eisel) - MGL
  • 2013: Klezmer in the Air (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Pianissimo
  • 2014: Talking Sinatra (Helmut Eisel & Sebastian Voltz Trio) - Neuklang
  • 2015: LP studio concert (Helmut Eisel & Sebastian Voltz Trio) Live Direct-To-2-Track AAA - Neuklang
  • 2016: Rhapsody for an Unknown Klezmer (Helmut Eisel and Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, conductor: Daniel Huppert) - Animato
  • 2016: It was always so nice for you (Joscho Stephan & Helmut Eisel Quartet) - MGL
  • 2016: Don Juan à la Klez (Helmut Eisel & JEM) - Neuklang
  • 2017: Naftule and the trip to Jerusalem (Helmut Eisel and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, conductor: Alexander Merzyn, narrator: Kerstin Klaholz) - Animato

Book and sheet music editions

  • Israeli Suite - New Klezmer Music of the Soul , Westpark Music & Publishing, ISBN 978-3-937942-00-1
  • Through Klezmer music for improvisation (sheet music including CD), Westpark Music & Publishing, ISBN 978-3-937942-01-8
  • Modern music lessons with Boomwhackers Sandra Möller, Helmut Eisel, Auer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-403-04772-8
  • Talking Clarinet - Introduction to Klezmer improvisation (music book including CD), texts German / English, Advance Music (Schott) 2014

literature

  • Simone Weber: The speaking clarinet - Interview with Helmut Eisel , 'rohrblatt 2010, pp. 137–140
  • Booklet of the CD The Spirit of Klezmer

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eisel, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clarinetist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarbrücken