An unparalleled career

Stanley Drucker, the New York Philharmonic's principal clarinetist since 1960 and a member for 60 years, retires from the orchestra this weekend. The 80-year-old Drucker has performed in some 10,200 of the philharmonic's concerts, more than two-thirds of those given by the orchestra since its founding in 1842, Daniel J. Wakin reports in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/arts/music/05druc.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

Here's a vintage "Live from Lincoln Center" video of Drucker playing Weber's Concertino with Zubin Mehta and the philharmonic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR9oxnm66bY

UPDATE: The Times' Vivien Schweitzer covers Drucker's farewell performance of Copland's Clarinet Concerto, and honors from the philharmonic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/arts/music/06druc.html?_r=1&ref=music