Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
Clarinet Sonatina, Op 29 (1951)
Joseph Horovitz (1926-2022)
Clarinet Sonatina (1981)
Two Majorcan Pieces (1958)
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Three Intermezzi, Op 13 (1879)
Clarinet Sonata, Op 129 (1911)
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)
Five Bagatelles, Op 23 (1938-45)
Michael Collins (clarinet)
Michael McHale (piano)
rec. 2022, Potton Hall, Saxmundham, UK
BIS BIS2097 SACD [66]
Michael Collins is revisiting his 2011-12 Chandos discography here. Those familiar with his previous recordings of the sonatas by Arnold, Stanford and Horovitz, and with Finzi’s Bagatelles, will find them assembled in this disc and will rightly ask if, other than being presented in SACD format, there are any startling revisions here. The answer to that question is, largely, no, though he has subtly recalibrated certain elements of the music-making.
Take Malcolm Arnold’s zippy Sonatina, for instance – which was premiered by one Colin Davis – where he takes the Andantino rather more leisurely than he did for Chandos over a decade ago. The agility of the leaps and the rhythmic snap alike are still intact and sparky. Consistency of purpose marks out the Horovitz Sonatina and the performance here is almost identical to his Chandos reading and it’s also very similar to Gervase de Peyer’s reading with Gwenneth Pryor, also on Chandos but dating from 1982-83 (this whole disc wears a somewhat de Peyer look). This isn’t surprising as it was written for de Peyer, Collins’s great predecessor. I happen to prefer de Peyer’s greater languor in the lovely slow movement but Collins and his responsive partner, Michael McHale, are vivid in the warm, jazzy elements of the finale. Horovitz’s Two Majorcan Pieces of 1958, written when the composer was in his early 30s, are picture postcards of descriptive compression, the sauntering Paguera and the scarpering, dashing Valdemosa.
The one work where Collins has clearly had a rethink is Stanford’s Sonata, a well laid-out three movement work, the most famous of which is the Caoine, which was once recorded by Frederick Thurston with Myers Foggin on 78. Collins plays the whole sonata with a greater tension than he used to, bringing a stronger sense of urgency to the music and this approach mitigates the sonata’s occasional languor. I’ve not encountered a previous Collins performance of Stanford’s Three Intermezzi, which are saturated in Schumannesque warmth, but Finzi’s Five Bagatelles must be central to his British recital repertoire and sound very similar to his Chandos recording.
Consolidation, as well as subtle realignment and reappraisal, mark out Collins and McHale’s approach in this disc which has been splendidly recorded. It also sports Stephen Johnson’s fine booklet notes.
Jonathan Woolf
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