 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-06-11 15:53
I got to play the Mozart Concerto with an orchestra.
Several weeks ago an invitation to the 40th reunion of my undergraduate class reminded me that this year would mark the 40th anniversary of my performing the Mozart Concerto with my College Sinfonietta. On checking the program for my senior concert, I found that today is that anniversary. From my naïve point of view, I felt at the time that the performance went pretty well. By today's standards (judging from recordings), tempo was a little slow in the first movement – my guess would be somewhere between 112 and 116 – and probably the last movement. (The only tempo marking I have in that movement is one that I put in after the dress rehearsal. It simply reads "Go like Hell." But, during the concert, I think the conductor
backed off a little from his dress rehearsal tempo.) The only mistake, at least that I remember, was missing one of the entrances at the end of the third movement (I think it was measure 289) – the first beat just went by too quickly. I laid out for that phrase and came in on the next one. While I got five curtain calls, it's probably just as well that there were no critics present or even anyone in the audience who knew the piece. (I've learned alot about interpretation and phrasing since then.) Dad knew how to put me in my place, though. The first words out of his mouth, while I was still feeling flush with success, were, "Well, that was nice but I don't see what the big deal is."
Considering all that went before the performance, I have always regarded the fact that it was not a (series of) train wreck(s) something of a minor miracle. That others might learn from my experience, here is a list of things NOT to do the first time you perform the Mozart concerto with an orchestra (or any other piece with anyone else, for that matter):
1. Use an unfamiliar instrument in poor condition. I didn't own (and had never seen) an A clarinet and the college didn't own one either. I had to play on a borrowed instrument that I didn't see until three days before the concert. In addition to having to become acclimated to the greater finger-spread, I had to deal with extremely loose keywork and some apparent leaks that made the instrument prone to squeak.
2. Only rehearse once with the orchestra. Because I didn't have access to an A clarinet for most of the spring, I only had one rehearsal with the orchestra to put the piece together – the dress rehearsal the day before the concert.
3. Don't take any lessons on the piece – just get the music and play it. The College was a very small liberal arts school and didn't have a clarinet teacher on the faculty at the time. Nor (AFAIK) was there a good one in town, even if I could have afforded lessons. So, I pretty much had to prepare the whole thing on my own with no feedback until the day before the concert. I did find an LP of the work with Hal Geuser and the Berlin Radio Symphony but it didn't do me much good because, at school, I didn't have access to a record player.
4. Change conductors in the middle of the project. Because of health issues, our music director couldn't answer the bell for Winter term. So the school hired a substitute. Suddenly, the conductor with whom I had played for three-and-a half years was replaced by someone who had never heard me play a note (and wouldn't until dress rehearsal) and whom I had never seen conduct a beat (and wouldn't until dress rehearsal).
5. Have a hangover for your only rehearsal with the orchestra. To my eternal discredit, the night before the dress rehearsal, I had (more than) a little too much to drink. (Combination of senior week and the unexpected discovery that the girl I had been dating that year had a hometown fiancé the whole time.) Around 10:15 the following morning, I was awakened by someone pounding on my door. It was a member of the orchestra that the conductor had sent to find me when I didn't show up for the 10:00 a.m. rehearsal. I finally got there – 45 minutes late and not really in any condition to play. This had to be scary for a conductor who did not know me and had never heard me play a note before. To say that rehearsal was less than a great success would be an understatement but somehow we muddled through. (Actually my memory is rather vague on this episode except that, at one point, when the horns were a bit "enthusiastic" with an entrance, I jumped. This prompted the principal horn player to remark in a stage whisper loud enough for all to hear, "Guess we all know what you did last night!") For the record though, next day, both the orchestra and the conductor did a fantastic job of supporting me, despite the position I had put them in.
6. Don't spend alot of time practicing your part. You can read the music. In retrospect, the one thing I did right, the one thing that got me through all of the others, was I did prepare the piece until I knew it inside-out. Though I never consciously tried to memorize it, I could have performed it from memory (and did do long stretches making eye contact with the audience instead of looking at the music) but, in the end, I lacked the courage to do away with my crutch.
In honor of the occasion, I am sponsoring several commemorative events. I plan to listen to a number of recordings of the concerto during the day – starting with Hal Geuser's performance. (Actually, I just finished listening to it. I am gratified to note that his tempo in the first movement was mostly quarter = 112 with a few sections at 116-118 and his last movement ranged from dotted quarter = 84 to 88. To me, his performance sounded elegant, not slow.) I also plan to perform the piece myself, accompanied by the Lake Forest Subdivision Synthetic Sinfonietta.
But I don't plan to replicate the hangover.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2007-06-11 17:58)
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Author: hartt
Date: 2007-06-11 22:05
jack
seriously, the circumstances you described are an indication of your professionalism even back then. Think about it..........a borrowed clarinet, few rehearsals and a change of conductors.
The hangover..............
regards
dennis
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Author: Bill
Date: 2007-06-11 22:32
Just like Benny Goodman's first classical gig!!!
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: ajhogan
Date: 2007-06-12 08:27
Marcellus's recording of the first movement is around 114 if memory serves. Sabine does do it faster though.
Austin
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2007-06-12 15:15
My score of the first movement is marked 104 but then it was published in 1943. Guess that just confirms the fact that the older you are the slower you get.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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