Entertainment

November 6, 2009

Noting Mozart, Tchaikovsky

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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When people hear him perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto tonight, Pascal Archer hopes, it will spark memories of some of the best moments of their lives.

“I’m hoping it’s going to be magic,” Archer said. “I’m working very hard on it.”

You can hear the principal clarinetist with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic play the piece during tonight’s “Tchaikovsky and Mozart” concert at the Scranton Cultural Center.

Make no mistake, the concerto is a demanding one.

“With Mozart, if it’s not crisp and clear and pristine, people will hear it,” Archer said. “And, because the second movement is in the movie ‘Out of Africa’ with Meryl Streep, everybody knows this piece.”

So the pressure is on. Still, Archer is thoroughly enjoying the chance to showcase a piece by Wolfgang Amadeus.

“Mozart is one of a few composers who has something special in his music, beyond the notes, beyond the techniques,” Archer continued. “It’s like an entity. It’s everywhere. It surrounds us.”

“I’m hoping this will be not only a musical experience but a spiritual experience for most people. I’m hoping I will be able to reach out to people’s souls.”

Archer, 33, grew up in a small town outside Montreal, where students begin high school at age 12. That’s when he randomly chose the clarinet as the instrument he’d like to play in the high-school band.

He has fond memories of those early years. “I really started enjoying playing in a group.”

Since 2006, Archer, who now lives in New York City, has been a member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. He also serves as acting principal clarinetist of the Long Island Philharmonic, and next year he will join the clarinet faculty at New York University in Manhattan.

Other pieces on tonight’s program in Scranton are the “Roman Carnival Overture” by Berlioz and Tchaikovsky’s “Fourth Symphony.”

The concert is scheduled for one performance only, at 8 tonight. A pre-concert lecture and reception are set for 7 with music director Lawrence Loh.

This concert originally was scheduled for a second performance on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, but because of a drop in state funding, corporate sponsorships and grants, the Philharmonic board of directors decided to merge the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton concerts into one.

To make the adjustment easier for audience members from Luzerne County, free charter-bus service is available from Wilkes-Barre to the Scranton Cultural Center for all ticket-holders on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

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