Clarinet Concerto (Vinyl)

Richard Stoltzman and Michael Tilson Thomas made an outstanding team for this recording. Stoltzman's tone is often the object of debate, but in this album, it works wonderfully. The jazz influences in all of these pieces call for a brighter, and (for lack of a better word) looser sound, which Stoltzman can pull off with flair. He does an excellent job of making the opening section of the Copland silky and dream-like. The bravado and virtuosity in the cadenza are fitting, as is the occasional stretch or pause. It sounds almost improvised, which is what Copland was going for in this very difficult section. The orchestra (directed by Tilson Thomas) is also excellent - sparkling one moment, incisive the next.

The rest of the album is a collection of pieces by other American composers of the 20th century. "Goodbye" is an emotional memorial of Benny Goodman, the Bernstein "Sonata" is an interesting expansion of the work for clarinet and piano. Look out for the opening of "West Side"... it has startled me more than once when I wasn't paying attention! And the "Three Preludes" at the end are, again, an interesting expansion of the work for piano.

I can't say that I've heard a better performance of the Copland, so this album is worth it just for that. But, the other pieces are fun to listen to as well and nicely round out this album.

This CD features some wonderful compositions by 3 of American's greatest composers - Gershwin, Copland, and Bernstein. All of these compositions are for the clarinet; Richard Stoltzman's playing is absolutely fantastic, giving us an irresistible sense of the lazy American atmosphere present in these pieces. And he partners with the LSO, an orchestra that is virtually unbeatable in this kind of repertoire. (It's no coincidence that John Williams has partnered with this orchestra in recordings of his own works; they're simply unbeatable in this kind of stuff.) This is not to mention the fact that he teams up with the famed Michael Tilson Thomas, widely recognized as today's leading Copland interpreter, in the first piece on this disc: The Copland Clarinet Concerto.

This concerto is in one movement, although it is broken into two sections that are joined by brilliant cadenza. The opening part is a wide spacious piece of slow music. It is quite dreamy, although there is a lot of tension and sadness. Stoltzman and Thomas need no help here; the music comes across in an incredibly moving way. After the cadenza (Stoltzman needs no help here, either!), we come to a fun, jazzy section. This is music that is quite catchy - you'll probably find yourself tapping your foot to it. The dark-toned strings of the LSO are incredibly well suited to this stuff - it sounds wild and dangerous but never loose. This is an incredible victory for all the musicians involved. To this day, I'm yet to hear a piece of Classical jazz (forgive the odd term!) that gets me this excited.

The rest of the disc is also good, although Thomas isn't here. His replacement at the helm of the LSO turns out to be Eric Stern. Both of the Bernstein pieces are arrangements. The first is a fantastic collection of some of those catchy tunes from West Side Story. After opening with those threatening, dissonant chords, the music progresses into some absolutely breathtaking, gorgeous stuff. The following work by Bernstein is his Clarinet Sonata, with the piano part arranged for orchestra. It sure would take a pretty good pianist to rival the LSO as the accompaniment for Stoltzman; this is so naturally you'll think this was originally intended for orchestra. It's actually a fine piece, alternating between the foot tapping side of things to the wide, open music, reminiscent of the plains out in the Wild West. Probably the best word to describe this stuff is "cool".

To top everything off, we hear a bit of Gershwin, probably the most famous of the whole bunch. Listeners are sure to love the irresistible "Walking the dog", which is certainly one of the biggest hits on this CD. And then there's the Three Preludes, all catchy and full of life and vigor.

So friends, if you like your Classical music and you like it a little on the wild, Broadway side, this is about as good as you're going to get. Buy it.

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