Mozart - Clarinet Concerto [Collins/ Pletnev-Russian National Orchestra] The Beethoven coupling is a novelty i suppose, i can't quite get into it, even as a Violin Concerto i find it a little hard going, but the Mozart work is lighter, and perfect for the Clarinet, with the many Clarinet Concertos that actually do exist, i think it would have been better to have another Concerto [or two] instead, the Mozart Concerto must be the most popular of all time, and it's good to have a modern recording, especially with such distinguished musicians as on this recording.
Michael Collins is English, born in the early sixties i believe, he made this recording in 1997, i like the front cover booklet [photography by Regina Recht], showing a vague picture of Pletnev in the top right hand corner, a monotone yellow / browny colour, while Collins is shown in a more stark black and white [actually black and grey] shot, nice and sharp, with tremendous back / side lighting, a very tall thin shot, showing the fingerwork on the Clarinet, a really nice piece of photography / artwork.
The Mozart Clarinet Concerto is a really happy work, especially the outer movements, but it's the inner slow Adagio that has a degree of nostalgia about it, and it's this movement i liked the most, it's soothing and inspiring, with a fantastic tune, the penultimate section of this tune, is first stated by the Clarinet [1:08-1:39], and then there's a heart tug reply by the orchestra [1:42-2:13], the recording is wonderful, you're able to hear all the breathy moments from Collins, it's worth remembering that this work was composed for a Basset Clarinet, that can reach four semitones lower than a normal Clarinet, creating a nice deep darkness at times, and there's a couple of times where the Clarinet reaches deep into its bass [3:50 & 3:59], lovely and woody / velvety, eventually the original clarinet solo returns [4:36-5:08], and Collins really caresses a lot of mileage by stating this so simply and innocently the second time around, and the passion is just gorgeous from Collins [5:12-5:46], and when the orchestra repeat the theme stronger [5:48-6:19], the whole thing is perfectly complete, a lovely burnished autumnal feeling throughout this movement.
Here's Michael Collins playing the Mozart Concerto on YouTube, the middle Adagio starts at [12:25].
