Master Class with Jessica Phillips Rieske

A few hours after the ICA High School Solo Competition, I was scheduled to play for a masterclass with Jessica Phillips Rieske, Acting Principal Clarinet at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  She is also on the faculties at Rutgers and Columbia Universities, and she teaches E-Flat clarinet at The Juilliard School.

Ms. Phillips Rieske with the clarinets from the masterclass.

I was pretty wiped out emotionally after the competition earlier that morning.  It didn't help that one of the teachers of one of the others students in the competition, a student who, like me, also did not place, came to me afterwards to tell me exactly what I had done wrong.  He kept harping on my Legere Reeds and telling me that I played poorly.  His comments did not agree with the judges comments, and I didn't know him, so it was very odd that he would come to me at that moment with such strong statements.  At that point I was trying to shake hands with the winners and congratulate them on their performances and to get my own comments from the judges.

In any case, I went to the dealer's room to try out the new Buffet Divine clarinet and I got some lunch, and then I took a deep breth and went to the masterclass.  I was playing the exposition of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in front of a room full of clarinet professionals, enthusiasts, and students.  It's funny.  I wasn't nervous.  I figured, I would do my best and not worry too much about it.  Unlike the competition, this time, I didn't have much to lose.  Also, I don't think I had enough energy left after the competition to get too worked up about anything.

I think I played quite well considering everything -- although since I have been working on the Mozart since then, I could play better today, but that doesn't really matter.  The important thing was that Ms. Phillips Rieske was a FANTASTIC teacher.  Like Mr. Manassee, she focused first on what she liked about my playing, which is something I think all teachers should do.  It makes it much easier to hear the criticisms, especially in a room full of people you don't know.  I'm not going to go into specifics about her comments this time, like I usually do, but suffice it to say that the master class was a great experience.  I hope that I have the privilege to meet Ms. Phillips Rieske again as a teacher or as the amazing performer that she is.

Clarinetfest 2012: Day 4

Saturday night at Clarinetfest 2012, I saw a truly wonderful concert.  This concert featured clarinets soloing with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra.  There were three performers, Gregory Smith of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Phillips Rieske of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Belgian/Flemish clarinetist Eddy Vanoosthuyse.  They played the "Premiere Rhapsodie" by Debussy, the Mozart clarinet concerto and the X Concerto By Scott McAllister.

Mr. Smith played the Debussy very well.  It was the first really professional live performance of this piece that I have had the privilege to hear.  His playing really captured the impressionistic style of Debussy.  Mr. Smith's tone was great, and his phrasing was phenomenally crafted throughout the piece.  His technique was flawlessly sound, and I really enjoyed the way he articulated.  The only thing I disliked about his playing was the way he communicated the piece to the audience.  I think, perhaps, because he wasn't playing from memory, some of the notes got lost, or maybe they were reflected by the music stand away from the audience onto the stage.  The way the stand was positioned hid his face from some parts of the audience and limited his ability to communicate with the audience members who were unfortunate enough to have their view obstructed by the stand.  These are minor complaints, however, and probably oversights by the tech crew who had set up the stage.  Mr. Smith played the piece beautifully.

Next, Jessica Phillips Rieske played the Mozart.  I LOVED her Mozart!!  It was beautifully phrased, and her tone was strong and clear and sweet throughout the entire work.  I especially loved the way she performed the second movement.  She really captured the classical elegance of Mozart in that second movement better than I have heard anyone do it.  There were a few spots where the horns were audibly out of tune, but that's how it is with horn sections at times.  All in all it was a solid performance by the Lincoln Symphony and a fantastic exhibition by Ms. Phillips Rieske.

The last piece was quite interesting.  It was the X Concerto by Scott McAllister, played by Belgian clarinetist Eddy Vanoothuyse.  I loved Mr. Vanoothuyse's playing all the way through the piece.  There were also a lot of cool things about this composition.  The composer, Scott McAllister, was at the concert, and he talked about the piece before it was performed.  He said that when he composed it, he was afraid his fellow composers would disapprove that he put a melody in the second movement.  Modern pieces never have melodies!  He also said that he put a little bit of the Mozart clarinet concerto in the third movement, because he wanted the piece to someday win concerto competitions 15 years ago when he composed it, and it has since then.  Funny!

I didn't love the first movement; it was mostly quiet trilling form the clarinet, an impressive feat, but an odd way to start a composition.  The second movement, however, contained a gorgeous melody, which at one point in the piece is taken up and played in the altissimo register, creating a moment of exciting suspense.  The last movement is fun, and the pieces of the Mozart clarinet concert stuck in the middle created a really funny effect.  This is a great piece and Eddy Vanoosthuyse gave a wonderful performance of it.