In the run-up to her performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Clarinettist Katherine Lacy chats to BFC member Emma Gregg.
My family have always supported me in my career. I grew up in Wrexham and, although my family weren’t classical musicians, they were in show business, so understood how it feels to pursue a career in such a precarious but rewarding profession. I don’t really think it’s possible to succeed without that support.
I’ll never forget getting that first phone call offering me a job. It was bass clarinet with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, in 2004. Knowing that the hard work had been worth it and I was going to be OK was a stand-out moment.
I always had a niggling desire to sit in the hot seat as principal clarinet one day. I held bass clarinet positions for ten years, first with RLPO and then with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and was chuffed to bits when the RPO offered me their principal clarinet position in 2014.
I’d like to think my sound is my trademark. I play on British clarinets, so I feel like I’m carrying on a bit of a tradition. Most other players these days play on
French instruments.
I try to let the music speak for itself by not over-complicating things or over-thinking too much. I take huge inspiration from my colleagues and feel so lucky to sit in a wind section of such wonderful musicians. They’re also really nice people, and we have a brilliant time together!
I think every wind player has a special relationship with Mozart. We almost always have to play a Mozart concerto when we audition for a job in an orchestra. His music shows off every aspect of a musician’s playing and is the ultimate test.
Clarinet players are very fortunate to have the Clarinet Concerto, because every movement is totally perfect. Mozart came to the clarinet late in his career and was at the height of his maturity when writing for it. I just love it. I’m so pleased that I get to play it fairly regularly with the RPO.
I play the concerto on a basset clarinet, which is how Mozart intended it. This instrument has an extra four semitones at the bottom which a normal clarinet isn’t capable of. I hope the audience will enjoy listening out for these fruity low notes!
I particularly love the reprise of the tune in the slow movement. It’s an opportunity to create a really intimate, moving atmosphere and demonstrate how beautifully quietly the clarinet can play.
Katherine Lacy and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by James Morgan, will perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto at a concert with the Brighton Festival Chorus and Brighton Festival Youth Choir at the Cadogan Hall, London SW1 at 4pm on Sunday 20 October 2024. The programme also includes Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Ave Verum Corpus.
