Customer Reviews

Nielsen, Aho: Clarinet Concertos [Hybrid SACD]

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What is it with the clarinet concerto that everybody seems to be writing one? And why is it that they are so good? The others that spring to mind are by Rautavaara and Magnus Lindberg. Rather than being excessively modern, all three works combine the best of both worlds. Along with stringent sounds (multi-phonics, high playing, high string tessituras), there are soaring melodies that are not necessarily tonal, bringing vindication to Schoenberg's dictum that music can be pleasant written in a atonal way. Now the major chords at the end of a dissonant work make sense in the general scheme of things.

One of the pioneers of the Clarinet Concerto in the 20th century was Carl Nielsen. He wrote it for a clarinettist from a wind quintet. He wanted eventually to write one for all of the members. He died before he could, but he finished the flute and clarinet ones. Both are supposed to reflect the artist involved. Many people have thought that this concerto is not user friendly, with the involved clarinet part and a insistent snare drum. The piece is in one movement with not-so many deliniated sections. After many years of living with Nielsen's music, this piece can still seem intractable, but it also paved the way for the future of the clarinet concerto. Like the Aho, Martin Frost plays the pants off of the piece. Great tone, extreme agility, and of course passion and commitment. Vanska and the Lahti orchestra are great collaborators and both concertos have involved orchestral parts. Aho's concerto certainly plays off the Nielsen, but in his own way. I have listened to Aho's symphonies, and his contrabassoon and tuba concertos and have been just floored as how good a composer he really is. His earlier works did not seem as good to me, but these recent works are home runs. Like the Nielsen, this is more of a "Symphony for Clarinet and Orchestra" then of the "Clarinet Concerto" where the orchestra plays and the audience waits for the soloist to enter. Again, this piece is one movement but in delineated sections, from very lyrical to tragic to violent to hopeful. Aho speaks a universal language of our times that totally works in a musical context. A fantastic disc-and don't forget about Rautavaara and Lindberg!