Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 & Finzi: Clarinet Concerto

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[The Symphony is] beautifully played but not quite faithful even to the letter of Vaughan Williams’s score…Altogether, this superb performance [of the Concerto] will surely persuade those listeners... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2020, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 31st Jul 2020
Catalogue No: BIS2367
Label: BIS
Length: 68 minutes

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Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 in D major

Work length39:45

$6.60

$12.85

$17.50

Michael Collins
Philharmonia Orchestra

I. Preludio

Track length12:14

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

II. Scherzo

Track length5:04

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Romanza

Track length11:43

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

IV. Passacaglia

Track length10:44

$1.50

$3.85

$5.25

Finzi: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 31

Work length28:41

$5.05

$9.05

$12.25

Michael Collins
Philharmonia Orchestra

I. Allegro vigoroso

Track length8:00

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

II. Adagio ma senza rigore

Track length11:55

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

III. Rondo. Allegro giocoso

Track length8:46

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

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The distinguished clarinettist Michael Collins has in recent years also gained recognition as a conductor, appearing with eminent orchestras across the world. The present disc sees his recording debut as a conductor of symphonic repertoire, from which he has chosen Vaughan Williams’s Fifth Symphony –one of the composer’s best-loved works. Written during the Second World War and with its symphonic predecessor displaying a convulsive fury and desolation, the Fifth is surprisingly serene and pastoral. Vaughan Williams dedicated it ‘without permission’ to Jean Sibelius – who in his diary described his impression on first hearing the work as ‘a caress from a summer world.’ On the present disc, Vaughan Williams is followed by his younger colleague and friend Gerald Finzi, who he once advised to write a symphony: ‘They're ever so easy’. Finzi was not convinced, and remains known as a composer of primarily vocal music, but among his few instrumental works is a Concerto for Clarinet, the instrument widely regarded as the most voice-like of all. For this, Michael Collins reverts to his customary role as soloist, conducting the strings of the Philharmonia Orchestra from the clarinet.

Reviews

November 2020

[The Symphony is] beautifully played but not quite faithful even to the letter of Vaughan Williams’s score…Altogether, this superb performance [of the Concerto] will surely persuade those listeners generally unconvinced by Finzi that he was far more than a purveyor of pastoral nostalgia.

October 2020

Collins’s ripe tone is very much undiminished and he shapes Finzi’s winding melodies as affectionately as ever...There’s a feeling of pastoral ease without ever getting stuck in a ‘cow staring over the fence’ rut, encouraging such impassioned string-playing that the movement’s emotional climax registers strongly...Collins has a natural feel for [the symphony’s] structure and draws glowing playing from the Philharmonia.

Offer,Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 & Finzi: Clarinet Concerto

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