A specialist title like British Clarinet Concertos, Vol. 2, may not seem to promise much to general listeners. And there is no Britten Clarinet Concerto: the work included is, to quote the track list, "devised and orchestrated" by Colin Matthews, following sketches for one movement made by Britten toward a projected concerto for jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, combined with clarinet-and-orchestra arrangements of two other short pieces. Don't let these factors dissuade you: this release offers a really delightful hour and a half of music. The Britten is well worth hearing, with an ambitious opening movement followed by two lighter pieces. The Five Bagatelles for clarinet and orchestra, arranged from a group of clarinet-and-piano pieces, are exceptionally lyrical; sample the middle of the five (track six) for a taste of the exceptional cantabile of clarinetist Michael Collins and his organic relationship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra that he directs as well. The Hindemith-influenced music of Arnold Cooke seems to be enjoying renewed attention, and his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 of 1955 (to be sure, the first actual clarinet concerto on the program) artfully combines the solo clarinet with the orchestral winds. The best, perhaps, is saved for last: the Clarinet Concerto, Op. 68, of 1975, composed for the virtuoso Gervase de Peyer by William Mathias, is a brilliant piece incorporating jazz rhythms as well as a great variety of clarinet attacks and intonations. All this music is thoroughly enjoyable, and not a single piece among the four is much heard.
© TiVo