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RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR June > LISTEN TO OUR MICHAEL COLLINS PODCAST His faultless clarity and articulation, especially at some of the speeds he adopts, are things to marvel at Jeremy Nicholas is all smiles after listening to Crusell’s three clarinet concertos, played and conducted by the irrepressible Michael Collins and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra Crusell Clarinet Concertos – No 1, Op 1; No 2, Op 5; No 3, Op 11. Introduction, Theme and Variations on a Swedish Air, Op 12 Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Michael Collins cl Chandos F Í CHSA5187 (74’ • DDD/DSD) I imagine I am not alone in having first been introduced to the name and music of Bernhard Henrik Crusell by the 17-year-old Emma Johnson. When she played Crusell’s F minor Concerto (No 2) for the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1984 it was a bold and unconventional choice that made many of us wonder why we had never heard such an attractive work before – and why it had been a teenager, rather than a high-profile seasoned pro, who had the imagination to revive it. Johnson, memorably, won the competition and subsequently recorded the concerto and its two companions presented here. Crusell (1775-1838) ranks high in the history of Finnish music but not elsewhere – until, that is, the last decades of the 20th century. He was not given an entry in the first edition of Grove or indeed in most other music dictionaries until the 1980s. None of his works has ever received a performance at the BBC Proms. Things are changing. As a performer, Crusell became the first person to perform Mozart’s divine Concerto following its publication in 1802, and also gave the first public performance of the Kegelstatt Trio. Chandos’s first-rate booklet (Colin Lawson) reveals that ‘more than 50 extant concert reviews [of Crusell] O R C H E S T R A C H A M B E R I S H E D S W yield not a single negative comment’. As a composer for the clarinet, he is an almost exact contemporary of Weber and Spohr. His three concertos were composed between 1803 and 1812. Their themes, generally, may not be as memorable as Weber’s, the orchestration no more than craftsmanlike, but are there any other clarinet concertos PH O T O G R A P H Y T H E O F C O U R T E S Y : 14 GRAMOPHONE RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR 2018 Click on a CD cover to buy/stream from gramophone.co.uk
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June Editor’s Choices RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR ADAMS Violin Concerto Leila Josefowicz vn St Louis Symphony Orchestra / David Robertson Nonesuch Leila Josefowicz returns to the Adams concerto on record 16 years since her last version, and triumphs, bringing to it thrilling drama, individuality and insight. BEETHOVEN Symphonies Nos 4 & 5 Vienna Symphony Orchestra / Philippe Jordan Wiener Symphoniker This is turning out to be a cycle well worth following; as with January’s Nos 1 and 3, this pairing reveals maestro and musicians in a perfectly shared vision. BERNSTEIN Orchestral Works Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Christian Lindberg BIS Anyone looking to discover Leonard Bernstein’s own music in his anniversary year would do very well to start here: an album full of rhythm and life. WALTON Viola Concerto. Orchestral Works James Ehnes va BBC Symphony Orchestra / Edward Gardner Chandos Edward Gardner’s Walton journey continues with another superb release, and another superb soloist – this time James Ehnes in the Viola Concerto. HAYDN Piano Trios Trio Wanderer Harmonia Mundi When our resident Haydn advocate – David Threasher – suggests I listen to a new recording of the composer’s piano trios, it would be remiss not to! Played and recorded with great clarity throughout; a wonderful release. ‘1700’ Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini Naïve The strong sense of ensemble generated by Rinaldo Alessandrini and his impeccable colleagues makes for a delightful, elegant and thrilling visit to the musical world of 18th-century Italy. SCHUBERT Piano Sonata No 21. Four Impromptus Marc-André Hamelin pf Hyperion All new recordings by Marc-André Hamelin, one of our most inquisitive and virtuosic pianists, are eagerly anticipated; that this Schubert set should earn our critic’s high recommendation demonstrates why. JS BACH Cantatas Sols; Ricercar Consort / Philippe Pierlot Mirare Three Bach cantatas united by the theme of consolation. All are beautifully, eloquently and movingly sung, matched throughout by excellent playing from the Ricercar Consort led superbly by Philippe Pierlot. M LAMBERT Leçons de Ténèbres Marc Mauillon bass et al Harmonia Mundi Marc Mauillon’s interpretation lends a strongly personal and communicative power and intimacy to a recording of these contemplative works written for the darkening days of Holy Week. before the end of the 19th century which show off the virtuoso and lyrical qualities of the clarinet with more exuberance and grace? In the words of the great Jack Brymer, ‘while there is nothing startlingly new in what he has to say, Crusell is always saying something worthy of our attention’. All three works have been recorded several times since Johnson’s captivating ASV discs (11/86, 11/89, 9/91), though this may well be the first time that the soloist in all three has also directed the orchestra. Collins is an experienced conductor in his own right but it takes an extraordinary degree of skill (and breath control!) to play such technically demanding solo parts while simultaneously leading the players. However, I think he achieves better results than those with the benefit of two free hands and a baton. Even before he has blown a note, you will notice the exemplary balance between the different sections in the opening tutti of the E flat Concerto (No 1). It is a feature of this entire recording, quite apart from the precision and spirit throughout that he wins from his collaborators. As to his role as soloist, I can only say that Collins’s first entry made me smile – and kept it there for the entire length of the disc: the opening flourish is a rapid upward tonic arpeggio executed with such gleeful, impudent fluency that you simply want to applaud. It sets the tone for the next 74 minutes of (literally) breathtaking bravura notable not merely for Collins’s sprightly athleticism but the amazing range of dynamics and colours he produces – and all without ever interfering with the long line and seemingly spontaneous phrasing. His faultless clarity and articulation, especially at some of the speeds he adopts, are things to marvel at. If you are of a mind to dismiss all this as mere froth and bubble, turn to the slow movements. You will recall that Mozart thought the clarinet the closest of all instruments to the human voice, and Collins here turns his instrument into a silky-toned singer – and with a far more refined and liquid sonority than, say, the young Emma Johnson. His tempos, incidentally, are consistently livelier than hers as well, for example 5'22" as opposed to her 6'05" in the catchy rondo finale of the F minor Concerto, best known of the nine movements. The disc concludes with a daredevil set of variations on a popular Swedish song (translated as ‘Dear boy, empty the glass’) by one Olof Ålström. ‘It combines’, writes Lawson, ‘a certain wit with a level of virtuosity that makes severe technical demands on the soloist.’ It is also great fun. If you’re still hesitating, this should tip you over the edge. Among other Crusell crusaders are Martin Fröst, Kari Kriikku and Karl Leister. They must all now yield to the newcomer, an altogether remarkable tour de force from the magnificent Michael Collins, another gold-standard Chandos recording to add to his earlier Weber, Stanford and Finzi concerto benchmarks for the label. gramophone.co.uk Click on a CD cover to buy/stream from GRAMOPHONE RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR 2018 15

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RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR

June

> LISTEN TO OUR MICHAEL COLLINS PODCAST

His faultless clarity and articulation, especially at some of the speeds he adopts, are things to marvel at

Jeremy Nicholas is all smiles after listening to Crusell’s three clarinet concertos, played and conducted by the irrepressible Michael Collins and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Crusell Clarinet Concertos – No 1, Op 1; No 2, Op 5; No 3, Op 11. Introduction, Theme and Variations on a Swedish Air, Op 12 Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Michael Collins cl Chandos F Í CHSA5187 (74’ • DDD/DSD) I imagine I am not alone in having first been introduced to the name and music of Bernhard Henrik Crusell by the 17-year-old Emma Johnson. When she played Crusell’s F minor Concerto (No 2) for the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1984 it was a bold and unconventional choice that made many of us wonder why we had never heard such an attractive work before – and why it had been a teenager, rather than a high-profile seasoned pro, who had the imagination to revive it. Johnson, memorably, won the competition and subsequently recorded the concerto and its two companions presented here.

Crusell (1775-1838) ranks high in the history of Finnish music but not elsewhere – until, that is, the last decades of the 20th century. He was not given an entry in the first edition of Grove or indeed in most other music dictionaries until the 1980s. None of his works has ever received a performance at the BBC Proms. Things are changing. As a performer, Crusell became the first person to perform Mozart’s divine Concerto following its publication in 1802, and also gave the first public performance of the Kegelstatt Trio. Chandos’s first-rate booklet (Colin Lawson) reveals that ‘more than 50 extant concert reviews [of Crusell]

O R C H E S T R A

C H A M B E R

I S H

E D

S W

yield not a single negative comment’. As a composer for the clarinet, he is an almost exact contemporary of Weber and Spohr. His three concertos were composed between 1803 and 1812. Their themes, generally, may not be as memorable as Weber’s, the orchestration no more than craftsmanlike, but are there any other clarinet concertos PH O T O G R A P H Y

T H E

O F

C O U R T E S Y

:

14 GRAMOPHONE RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR 2018

Click on a CD cover to buy/stream from gramophone.co.uk

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