Customer Reviews

Arnold: The Complete Works for Clarinet

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Malcolm Arnold's clarinet music is really a treat to listen to, and Emma Johnson plays it very well. I find that Arnold (along with a few other composers such as Jean Francaix) has an uncanny skill for creating music that is fun an lighthearted without sacrificing musical integrity, and these pieces are just that. They are simultaneously fun, light, and almost cheesy at times, but also are well-crafted pieces that offer much deeper musical satisfaction.

The First Concerto, scored for clarinet and strings, is fun and charming. The Second Concerto seems much darker than the first, though the last movement is a fun, rag (as the piece was written for Benny Goodman). Emma Johnson plays the concertos well, though if you want to hear a truly impressive cadenza (the cadenza in the 2nd concerto is nto written and must by written by the performer), check out Martin Frost's version on BIS records.

The Fantasy for solo clarinet is a nice unaccompanied piece, more lyrical and pleasing than many modern unaccompanied pieces. While the piece isn't particularly difficult, it does showcase the lyrical aspects of the clarinet, as well as it's ability to create extremes in dynamics.

The Sonatina is a wonderfully fun, rhythmically-driving show piece. Emma Johnson plays this pieces really well, with the right combination of drive and lightness (neither of the other versions I've heard, Paul Meyer and Victoria Soames, achieve this delicate balance as well as Johnson does).

The other two pieces, the wind trio and quintet, are both fun and typically Arnold. The quintet is particular is very popular, and it is clearly a crowd pleaser.

Emma Johnson's playing here is great and very appropriate. With the exception of the Second Concerto (written for Goodman), the other pieces were inspired by British clarinetists, and it's refreshing to hear a British clarinetist perform these pieces in all their glory and know that there is no basis to criticize their sound as "too-British". This is a truly great CD for any music fan/clarinetist.