British Clarinet Sonatas Volume 2

British Clarinet Sonatas Volume 2 cover $35.00 Out of Stock
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ARNOLD / BENJAMIN, A / COOKE, A / GREGSON / HOROVITZ
British Clarinet Sonatas Volume 2
Michael Collins (clarinet), Michael McHale (piano)

[ Chandos Classics / CD ]

Release Date: Sunday 17 March 2013

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

This is Volume 2 in the series 'British Clarinet Sonatas', in which Michael Collins is joined by the pianist Michael McHale. BBC Music awarded five stars to Volume 1, and wrote: 'Collin's clarinet-playing mesmerises the ear: the closing phrase of Stanford's 'Caoine' movement shows what a player in this league can convey in just two quiet notes. Without snatching the limelight, Michael McHale's accompanying finds a range of keyboard colours in, above all, the works by Ireland and Howells, making their individual sound-worlds seem unexpectedly subtle and rich.' On this disc the pair turns to works for clarinet and piano by Arthur Benjamin, Edward Gregson, Joseph Horovitz, Sir Malcolm Arnold, and Arnold Cook.

"The strongest music on the programme turns out to be the first, where Collins's huge reserves of gorgeous-toned musicianship are rewarded in...Malcolm Arnold's sharp-focus, irreverently brilliant three-movement tour de force...As in Vol. 1 of the series, Collins's lustrous expertise is fully in evidence, as is Michael McHale's top-flight accompanying." BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****

"This is a delightful disc, not just through the warmth and fun of the five works by five composers, but through the magic of the great clarinettist Michael Collins" Gramophone Magazine, June 2013

"Collins and McHale have a special affinity for these attractive British chamber music scores. Collins' exquisite playing is crisp and evinces sure articulation, refined phrasing and agreeable intonation. McHale is sensitive and supportive. Both players radiate pleasurable music-making." MusicWeb International, 27th June 2013

Tracks:

Arnold:
Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 29
Benjamin, A:
Le Tombeau de Ravel
Cooke, A:
Sonata in B flat for clarinet and piano
Gregson:
Tributes
Horovitz:
Sonatina