Various Composers - Clarinet And Piano Works [Kam/Golan]Now i must admit the Clarinet is one of my favourite instruments, i even thought of taking up the clarinet myself, it's easy and portable, it's versatile, perfect for Classical and Jazz, a satisfying solo instrument, and i believe not too expensive to buy, but i'm a procrastinator.
Sharon Kam is from Israel, she is now 39, about four months ago i talked about another clarinet recital of hers [30th July 2010], also with Itamar Golan, that disc contained shorter pieces, this one has a tendency to contain whole Clarinet Sonata type works.
On this listen i found myself enjoying the last work on the disc, Francaix's Theme And Variations, it's a work of a theme and seven variations [or maybe a theme, five variations, a cadenza, and a finale], it's basically jazzy and bubbly, the whole work lasts no more than 9 minutes, so each variation is certainly short, the theme is lively and short [track 11], the first variation is slow and serene [track 12], the second variation is jazzy and quirky [track 13], the third variation is hesitatingly staccato [track 14], the fourth variation is very lyrical, with long sweet legato lines [track 15], the fifth variation is my favourite [track 16], which starts off with high pitched squeals from the solo clarinet, which slowly turn into music, using squeals between the notes, this variation is meant to be a waltz, but it barely sounds like one, maybe at [0:38+] it gets waltzy, and there's these constant upward flicks from the clarinet, a lovely invention, the sixth variation / solo cadenza is for clarinet only, slow utterances punctuated by squealing outbursts [track 17], which leads into the seventh variation / finale, which is rapid, bubbling and fizzy, full of life, with some nice tongue-fluttering thrown in [track 18, 0:21+], a fairly recent work, and a nice varied disc of clarinet music.
Here's Maxim Senkov playing Francaix's Theme And Variations on YouTube.
