Michael Collins & Swedish Chamber Orchestra - Crusell: Three Clarinet Concertos – Introduction et air suédois (2018) [CD Rip]

Clarinetist Bernhard Henrik Crusell, who played the first performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, after its posthumous publication, considered himself a Finn despite his Swedish background. He is now regarded as the most prominent Finnish composer before Sibelius, and he wrote a lot for his chosen instrument. The three concertos and the variation set recorded here by Michael Collins, performing and conducting the Swedish Chamber Orchestra (a feat in itself), are virtuoso pieces built on a Mozartian base. Sample the opening movement of the first or the third concerto to assure yourself of Collins' technique. These movements have Mozartian openings that bloom into perilously difficult solo entrances, and Collins executes them without a squawk and even with a bit of charisma and humor. The strongest movements are the slow ones, highly reminiscent of those of the Mozart Concerto and Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581: they are not just similar in overall shape, but have the long-breathed beauty of clarinet writing that Mozart mastered so instinctively with the new instrument, and they're really lovely. In all, this is music that should be part of the general concerto repertory but isn't, and it's gorgeously performed. ~ James Manheim