On Tuesday, Oberlin continued its Artist Recital Series with one of the most anticipated concerts of the year. The ARS brings professional musicians across the world from multiple genres to Oberlin to lead masterclasses, workshops, and talks, culminating in a performance in Finney Chapel with tickets available for purchase. Emanuel Ax is a Grammy Award-winning Polish-American pianist who has enjoyed a decorated career performing across the globe, including extensive collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Anthony McGill is an Avery Fisher Prize-winning American clarinetist who serves as principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic and is its first African-American principal player. The two are monumental and trailblazing figures in their respective instruments, and this collaboration is nothing short of exciting and extraordinary.
Through the generosity of alumni Richard and Linda Clark, OC ’62, I was able to claim a free student ticket using my student email and ID, as is the case with all of the ARS concerts. Even better, I was given a fantastic seat to properly absorb the full sound of the concert: the middle of the balcony.
The stage was set up simply and beautifully. The grand piano sat center with its lid open, accompanied by stools, a music stand, and a clarinet stand. The wings of the stage featured simple vases with bouquets of flowers, adding a subtle formality to the vibe. Other than that, Finney’s stage sat empty, awaiting its musicians to give it life.
The program featured quite the range of pieces, from Schumann and Schubert, to Florence Price and Leonard Bernstein, to contemporary pieces by Jessie Montgomery and James Lee III.
From the moment McGill and Ax jointly released their first note of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, I knew that I was in for a treat. Solo clarinet with piano accompaniment is not the most common pairing, especially for a concert programmed entirely for the two instruments, but the way McGill and Ax meshed and balanced together was, simply put, a perfect pairing.
McGill spoke to the audience after the Schumann and gave recognition to Richard Hawkins, his old mentor and teacher from when McGill was 15 at Interlochen Arts Academy. When introducing the next piece, McGill explained that he is a friend of the composer, Jessie Montgomery, adding a personal touch to the performance.
In Montgomery’s “Peace,” the clarinet glided beautifully over a piano wrought in somber tones. A shorter piece, it left a beautifully open-ended punctuation reflecting the uncertainty of 2020, which the composer wrote was the inspiration for the piece.
Ax then spoke about the next piece, Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor Arpeggione, joking about the composer’s competition with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, which was composed the same year, also in Vienna. He also discussed its difficulties for clarinet, such as the requirement of intense breathing, as the piece was originally meant for the smaller, viola da gamba-like instrument, the arpeggione — which went out of style rather quickly. Unlike modern string instruments such as the cello, the clarinet can reach the full range of the arpeggione, making it a suitable instrument for performing the piece.
Ax remarked that this was his favorite piece to perform with McGill, and as the piece progressed, I understood exactly why. McGill’s emphatic display made for a delightful rendition of the sonata. The two breathed an otherworldly life into the piece, animating the slow to rapid tempo, rhythm, and shifts between octaves with ease and emotion. It felt as if the two perfectly captured a sunny Viennese spring day in early May — I’ve only ever been to Vienna once in the summer, and I felt transported back there.
“It was so nuanced, I didn’t know a clarinet could make those sounds,” double-degree fourth-year Brindhavan Jaeger said. “Sometimes [McGill and Ax] blended together so well, it was as if they were a singular instrument.”
The second half of the performance opened with Ax soloing on the piano for Beethoven’s prized Moonlight Sonata. Listening to Ax’s rendition of the piece felt like a narration of your favorite classic novel, like Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo or Toni Morrison’s Beloved: you’ve read the story so many times and are intimately familiar with the details, but this narration is so nuanced and interpreted with a deep understanding of the piece and its history that it can only be captured this way in this singular moment of time. The words remain on the page, but the way they fill the room is unique and you’re left with a deeper appreciation for the work.
Florence Price’s Adoration, adapted for the clarinet, is ambiguous in its meaning but instills the sense of its titular noun. Short and to the point, it captures, among many other things, the feeling of saying farewell to someone with the hope of seeing them again. Other than Arpeggione, this was a strong contender for my favorite work of the night.
Lee’s Ad anah? is a dialogue between the piano and clarinet, posing a question that is never truly answered, despite its hearty conversation. The two trade melodies in this shorter piece reflecting these curiosities, and, perhaps, in the spirit of exchange between the two instruments. These two musical voices dance with and around each other for eternity, in spirit with the piece’s religious roots. I could feel that incomplete conclusion hanging off of the final notes.
The final piece, Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, was written for two friends. Knowing this, I could tell Ax and McGill brought a new layer to the piece, adding that touch of friendship that was intended from the piece’s compositional conception. It was adventurous and nostalgic, similar to the essence captured in Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. This, in my opinion, was the perfect piece to end on, as it served as the perfect culmination of their repertoire together.
The duo encored with Going Home, the largo from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, which is another beautifully nostalgic piece that flourished as a duet between piano and clarinet. This piece moved me to tears — not to be dramatic. The clarinet melody, gentle yet powerful, felt like rewatching memories, and the piano’s chords of encouragement and eventual commandeering of the melody felt like living new ones. After concluding the piece in thunderous applause and a standing ovation, the two instrumentalists walked off stage, arms across each others’ shoulders and smiling to one another. I got the sense that I just witnessed such a beautiful project come to life and feel thankful to Oberlin for the opportunity to witness such a special collaboration.
The next installment of the Artist Recital Series takes place March 5, featuring violinist Midori in collaboration with pianist Özgür Aydin.
