James Kanter, principal clarinetist for the Pacific...

James Kanter, principal clarinetist for the Pacific Symphony:

It’s hard to come up with a list of five favorite pieces of music without first thinking about works for my own instrument, or works that I love sitting in the orchestra and playing. But these are things, in no particular order, that absolutely send shivers up and down my spine for various reasons.

* Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances--It’s such a beautifully orchestrated piece, thematically it really touches me. The few times I’ve had the opportunity to play it, I’ve been taken at how well orchestrated it is, how every single note of every part is critical to the score. It’s one of the few pieces where you can say absolutely nothing is wasted. . . . Everything seems to mean something.

* Schubert’s “The Shepherd on the Rock”--When I was a student, as a clarinetist there were two recordings that affected the way I looked at the instrument. One was (this work), with clarinetist Harold Wright, soprano Benita Valente and pianist Rudolf Serkin. That music ranks high as among my very favorite pieces. The impact that the clarinet-playing had on my own playing was profound.

* Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto--Another was a recording of (this piece) with Robert Marcellus (and the Cleveland Orchestra) made about the same time, in the early 1960s. Of course, Mozart’s Clarinet Concert would be on my list even if there wasn’t a specific recording for me to point to. It’s a double whammy that there is a recording of the work that means so much to me, and to everyone who plays clarinet in the United States.

* Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto--I was driving home one night from work many, many years ago, and I heard a recording of this piece on the radio that was so breathtaking I couldn’t continue to drive. I had to stop, pull over and just sit there and listen. . . . It was Jascha Heifetz, with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony.

* Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 for 13 wind instruments, “Gran Partita”--By way of explanation, I evolved as a clarinetist later in life than most people--I didn’t begin playing clarinet until I was a college student. . . . After I graduated, I was teaching at UC Santa Barbara, where I taught clarinet students and coached chamber-music groups. There was one particular group of students that was very good. We had a good chemistry and the group performed very well and we had a wonderful year or two together. As a gift to me at end of one of school, they got together and purchased (a recording of) Mozart’s “Gran Partita.” . . . I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but I was already coaching chamber music and had never heard it before. To this day, when I hear this piece, I get goose bumps, I begin conducting and starting singing all the parts. I would go anywhere, anytime, with anyone, to have anything to do with that piece.