Review: Oliver Shermacher – Prodigious talent and poise

Oliver Shermacher, virtuoso clarinet player and Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 Artist in Residence, certainly had an esteemed audience at his recent concert… two guest reviewers, Claire Edwardes  (percussionist, highly regarded in the Australian new music scene) and Andrew Howes (Sydney-based composer, building an international reputation for orchestral and choral music) offer their different perspectives on his Willoughby Recital on Wednesday 11th Nov.

Andrew Howes begins…
We are all learning how to experience that mixture of anxiety and excitement that comes with attending a live concert in the age of Covid 19. At this week’s Willoughby Recital at the Zenith Theatre, they seemed to be doing things just about as well as they could possibly be done, with a mandatory check-in, masked-up staff, sporadic, distanced seating, and the lack of the usual pre-concert milling around in the foyer. Nevertheless, the people who took their seats were obviously thrilled to be there – and that was before the presentation of the night’s soloist, Clarinettist Oliver Shermacher.

Claire Edwardes continues…
‘We are fam-il-y’ blasts out of PA and we see a long black leg and a clarinet peaking out horizontally from the curtains. Other than the 3 music stands across the back of the stage, there is very little hinting at what we were about to experience. A table, a chair. That is all. In the audience a packed COVID safe audience of friends, family and mentors cheering on this ultra-talented, quirky and charismatic individual before he heads back to his studies in Germany on Friday. This clarinet recital with a difference was a stunning swan song for Oliver Shermacher as he waved goodbye to his home country once again. Back to ‘We are fam-il-y’. Unusually for a recital of contemporary classical clarinet music this concert began with soloist strutting his stuff, drag queen style, singing karaoke with silver handbag in tow. Next was a childhood memory from a family member (apparently he was a real dreamer as a child) – an entrancing theme throughout the evening.

Andrew…
The first work, Una Chica En Nirvana, by Jürg Wyttenbach, requires the player to embody a character, speaking and singing rhythmically in several languages, interspersed with playful figurations on the clarinet. Requiring a multifaceted performer, this work shone in Shermacher’s hands, containing the kind of infectious delight that won him the Audience Choice prize at the 2018 ABC Young Performer Awards.

Claire agrees…
…it was a supreme opening to the recital, giving Oliver the opportunity to show off both his prowess on clarinet combined with his mastery of both the Spanish and German languages. This was a wowish 5-minute display which left us wondering what we were in for – was this classical music? Was this a theatre show? Was this perhaps a new progressive model for musical performance? The latter being the truly exciting fact of the matter.

Andrew…
The middle work of the program was Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint, a jubilant, three-movement groove-along for ten pre-recorded clarinets and an eleventh live player. For a work this notoriously difficult to stay in time with, Shermacher did an excellent job, particularly in the way that he matched his sound to the sound of the pre-recorded instruments. (Although perhaps some credit is owed to Christopher Stamawski, who ran lights and sound for the concert).

Following this work, and during a touching story spoken by his father, Shermacher removed his shoes whilst we learned of a relative who wasn’t able to escape the horrors of Europe during the events of the second world war. In a blacked out theatre, with only a faint light on the empty pair of leather shoes at the front of the stage.

Claire…
… convincing theatrical skills from Shermacher lead into another classic of the repertoire – this time Oliver Messiaen’s Abîme Des Oiseaux (Abyss of the Birds). Complete darkness descends leading to a touching interpretation of this masterpiece, which featured the softest clarinet niente’s I think I have ever heard.

Finally we hear from the Oliver himself, explaining the importance of his family and music for him – and that while the works till now had been in a way dedicated to his family, this final piece on the program was reserved for him and him only. And wasn’t it a fitting celebration of this young man’s on-stage risk taking, joyousness, charisma and innate musicianship. Nikola Resanovic’s ‘Alt. Music.Ballistix’

Andrew….
Seeming to exist in a Serbian coffeehouse some time after Stockhausen’s Invasion, this piece for clarinet and tape opens with industrial sounds and 1995 internet noises, before giving way to wild Balkan dance music. Shermacher once more brought his sensational style on stage in a jacket seemingly made from multicoloured streamers, and danced as he performed technical feats on his instrument.

Oliver Shermacher showed himself to be a clarinettist with prodigious talent and poise, and I feel privileged to have seen so much of his inner life on that stage, and I feel privileged to have been to a concert during these times. The sheer amount of joy in that room was palpable, and I hope to experience it again soon.

Claire…
Oliver Shermacher certainly has a big career ahead of him and I applaud him on his creative rendition of a traditional clarinet recital (albeit with only one female/Australian composer on the program) and I look forward to seeing what’s next!

Editorial note: A huge thank you to our guest reviewers Andrew and Claire, you have brought to life a concert that I am truly disappointed to have missed. Oliver Shermacher is definitely a young Australian performer to watch out for in the future.

Guest reviewers: Claire Edwardes and Andrew Howes