Information
- Benjamin Britten - Movements for a Clarinet Concerto (arr. Colin Matthews)
- Gerald Finzi - 5 Bagatelles, Op. 23a (arr. Lawrence Ashmore)
- Arnold Cooke - Clarinet Concerto No. 1
- William Mathias - Clarinet Concerto, Op. 68
Michael Collins, clarinet & conductor
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Date: 2016
Label: Chandos
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Britten did not complete his projected Clarinet Concerto for Benny Goodman, thanks to US customs seizing the manuscript of the first movement in 1942 believing it to contain coded messages. That sketch was first performed by Michael Collins in 1990, orchestrated by Colin Matthews, Britten’s assistant in his latter years. Since then, Matthews has added two extra movements by arranging other Britten works. This was recorded by Collins (on NMC’s excellent disc ‘Unknown Britten’) but gets a second recording here. The jazzy inflections in the outer movement go with a terrific swing, even if Collins was marginally tauter on his NMC account. There is great pathos in the central movement, based on the Mazurka elegiaca for two pianos, composed around the same period as the Goodman sketch. Matthews’s arrangement is most skilful, having other woodwinds weave sinuously around Collins’s silky clarinet.
The other arrangement here is Gerald Finzi’s familiar quintet of Bagatelles, clothed in Lawrence Ashmore’s saccharine arrangement for clarinet and string ensemble. The Prelude trips along nicely, while in the Romance Collins is more expansive than Robert Plane (Naxos), with beautifully veiled tone. The Fughetta – a real finger-breaker – has plenty of firm bite.
Arnold Cooke and William Mathias provide dips into unfamiliar repertoire. Both concertos were first performed by Gervase de Peyer but Collins is a worthy successor and gives persuasive accounts of both. The Cooke Concerto is especially notable for its lyrical, pastoral central movement, with its blackbird call, which Collins spins out as lovingly as Thea King (Hyperion). The finale, with its cross-rhythms and syncopations, is delightfully played. Mathias’s Concerto plunges the listener straight into the drama and Collins responds with bags of personality. The percussion section of the BBC SO has a field day – glockenspiel, vibraphone and rototoms joining in the melee. An inventively packed programme – all 83 minutes of it – enthusiastically recommended.
-- Mark Pullinger, Gramophone
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Michael Collins (born 27 January 1962 in Isleworth, West London) is a British clarinetist and conductor. He clarinet at the Royal College of Music under David Hamilton and Thea King. At the age of 16, he won the 1978 BBC Young Musician woodwind prize. Collins has served as the principal clarinet of several orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra (1987–95) and London Sinfonietta. He also performs as a soloist and as part of chamber ensembles. As a conductor, e has served as the principal conductor of the City of London Sinfonia (2010–18) and the London Mozart Players (2021–23).
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