(Image: ©️ Philippe Beheydt)
This exciting new recording opens with the second recording of Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto, written in 2002 and premiered by Finnish virtuoso clarinetist Kari Kriikku. Kriikku went on to record the work with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra on Ondine, and given the authoritative excellence of that recording, one might assume we already have the definitive performance. But Jean-Luc Votano proves to be an equally electrifying player, fully meeting the work’s considerable technical demands.
Votano’s performance takes 27:24 versus Kriikku’s 24:57. Those extra minutes allow for greater relaxation in slower passages that reveal a more sensuous quality to Lindberg’s writing. Comparing both performances, Kriikku and the Finns present Lindberg’s dense contrapuntal writing with an X-ray-like clarity and precision, which is further enhanced by Ondine’s analytical recording. This new recording offers greater warmth and bloom around the sound, while ensuring that those dense orchestral textures remain transparent. Both performances feature excellent solo playing, as well as sensitive and engaged orchestral accompaniments. While the new recording’s warmer soundstage may be a deciding factor, both performances demand to be heard.
Karl Amadeus Hartmann is shamefully neglected in the concert hall and new recordings of his music are always welcome. His Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet & string orchestra, written between 1930 and 1935 and dedicated to Zoltan Kodály, is a particularly poignant work. Éric Mairlot’s outstanding liner notes succinctly describe it: “The piece is extremely difficult to put together, given that the musical argument is heightened by swift scale passages and filled with shifting syncopations. The rhapsodic freedom that characterizes this piece also stems from a certain organic proliferation of the musical material, somewhat in the manner of a plant-like organism.” The playing of Votano, Quatuor Danel and the Liège Philharmonic is exemplary, capturing the shifting moods and styles in a seamless, organic manner. The final section (“Fantasie”, track 9) is particularly moving, Vontano’s opening solo, forlorn and unsettling (could this be questioning what was happening in Germany at the time?), is answered by a sad chorale in the strings. At 4:19, the clarinet animates, and the music seems to be moving into a more optimistic tone, but doubts resurface around the 6-minute mark. Finally, the work closes, quoting Mairlot, “in an atmosphere of intimacy refound.” This is a masterful realization of Hartmann’s profound music.
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The last piece in this album is Johan Farjot’s “Fantasme – Cercles de Mana”, a sort of triple concerto for clarinet, viola, cello and orchestra composed in 2014, with the clarinet is taking a lead role. The composer, in his own notes in the booklet, explaining that “(…) Mana is a Polynesian concept signifying the spiritual and magical power contained in all created things and is conveyed by spirits; one of its functions is to unify the social group”.
While each listener must decide if these lofty ideals are found in Farjot’s piece, the music itself is thoroughly engaging. The orchestration reveals meticulous craftsmanship and as the soloists and orchestra maneuver through the music’s ever-changing moods, they seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.
This is a wonderful recording of contemporary, yet accessible works for clarinet and orchestra. Jean-Luc Votano, principal clarinetist of the Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is an outstanding player and his impassioned, masterful performances of these three works will astound and captivate all lovers of virtuosic clarinet playing.
Contemporary Clarinet Concertos
Lindberg – Clarinet Concerto
Hartmann – Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet & string orchestra
Farjot – “Fantasme – Cercles de Mana”
Jean-Luc Votano – Clarinet
Quatuor Danel
Liège Philharmonic
Christian Arming – Conductor
Fuga Libera / Outhere Music, CD FUG752
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