Robert Plane, Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths - Finzi: Clarinet Concerto, Five Bagatelles, Three Soliloquies, Romance (1998)

This is a highly commanding performance of Finzi's gorgeous Clarinet Concerto from Northern Sinfonia principal, Robert Plane. With his bright, singing tone and effortless technical mastery, there's no shortage of intuitive poetry from Plane in the sublime central Adagio. Howard Griffiths's conducting is exemplary. We also get an atmospheric account of Lawrence Ashmore's idiomatic orchestration of the Five Bagatelles (with the poignant 'Romance' a highlight), as well as exquisitely drawn renderings of both the Romance for strings and 'Three Soliloquies' from Finzi's incidental music for a 1946 BBC production of Love's Labour's Lost. The fragrant, very early Severn Rhapsody (1923) makes a welcome return to the catalogue under Griffiths's deeply felt advocacy, and Lesley Hatfield makes a touching soloist in the radiant Introit (the slow movement of a withdrawn Violin Concerto). The sound and balance are extremely truthful, though the acoustic may be a little over-resonant for some tastes.