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Phoenix in Flight
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786 – 1826)
Clarinet Concertino in C minor, op.26 (1811) [10:30] Giovanni BOTTESINI (1821 – 1889)
Duetto [9:59] Claude DEBUSSY (1862 – 1918)
Premiere Rhapsodie (1910) [9:18] Carl Maria von WEBER
Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E flat, op.74 (1811) [25:01] Peter Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893)
Herbstlied (arr. Takemitsu) [4:41]
Richard
Stoltzman (clarinet); Richard Fredrickson (double bass)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Kirk Trevor
rec. May 2002 (Premiere Rhapsodie and Concerto No.2), May
2003 (Concertino), May 2005 (Duetto) and June 2005 (Herbstlied),
Bratislava, Slovakia DDD NAVONA RECORDS NV5861 [59:52]
It's so long since I heard Weber's Concertino that
I had forgotten just what a delightful miniature it is.
And what's more, as a Concertino it doesn't outstay its
welcome and it leaves you wanting much more. Stoltzman
plays it as if it were a fully blown (no pun intended)
Concerto and this makes the music even better for this
piece is as fine as any full length work for clarinet and
orchestra, such as Weber's own 2nd Concerto. This
latter is a more flamboyant work, as befits its Concerto
status, and it has much of the opera house to it. The first
movement is in the manner of a big aria, with much bravura
writing for the soloist, with, on occasion, an almost Rossinian
insouciance to it, with a forthright and very exciting
orchestral accompaniment – Stoltzman relishes this challenge
and really takes on the mantle of the prima donna. The
slow movement is a delicate serenade to the beloved, it's
a beautiful and sustained song with a more impassioned
middle section. The finale is a fun thing, as is to be
expected. Stoltzman brings the best of his musicianship
to this performance, reveling in the intricacies, enjoying
the lyricism, making the work even more enjoyable than
one would expect or believe it to be.
Bottesini's Duetto for clarinet and double
bass is a delightful piece of fluff, in two sections, the
first melodic the second more rhythmic. There's no substance
to this music whatsoever but it is strangely enjoyable
in a virtuoso way where the playing is more interesting
than the music. Debussy's Rhapsodie is a fine piece
which has, I believe, been unfairly written off as something
merely written for examination purposes and thus not really
worthy of our attention. Nothing by Debussy can be ignored
by us and this small piece is a tantalising glimpse of
a mature Concerto which might have been from this endlessly
fascinating composer.
The disk ends with the delicate Tchaikovsky Herbstlied,
arranged by Takemitsu, and it is a rather odd bed fellow
for the rest of the programme for the feel is neither Tchaikovsky
nor Takemitsu, rather a mish-mash which sits uneasily in
this programme.
This disk has been assembled from several different
sessions and thus the juxtaposition of musics is, I presume,
more the accident of what was available rather than any
forward planning. Whatever the reason it's quite an attractive
collection, and even a piece of little consequence, such
as the Bottesini, comes out of the programming very well.
Stoltzman is, of course, one of the masters of the clarinet
and here we hear him weave his magic and, perhaps, slightly
let his hair down, in music which might not necessarily
be of the front rank but which is well worth our time.
He is very well partnered by the Slovak Radio Symphony
Orchestra under the intelligent direction of Kirk Trevor.
The sound is very good and this is a welcome change from
the kind of hot house virtuoso offerings we so often get
from the greatest soloists. Well worth a listen.
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