Concerto for Clarinet & String Orchestra in C Minor, Op. 31: 1. Allegro vigoroso
Concerto for Clarinet & String Orchestra in C Minor, Op. 31: 2. Adagio ma senza rigore
Concerto for Clarinet & String Orchestra in C Minor, Op. 31: 3. Allegro giocoso
Concerto for cello & orchestra in A Minor, Op 40: 1. Allegro moderato
Concerto for cello & orchestra in A Minor, Op 40: 2. Andante quieto
Concerto for cello & orchestra in A Minor, Op 40: 3. Adagio - Allegro giocoso
LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME! World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma featured in the Cello Concerto! Gerald Finzi (1901-56) first came to notice for his distinctive compositions in the early 1920s. He had a sp... more »ecial affinity for choral and vocal music, but also wrote noteworthy instrumental and orchestral music. Finzi's Clarinet Concerto was composed during the richest, fullest period of his life. The war over, he had returned to the house he and his wife had built in 1938. Before his Opus 40, Finzi had composed four works in concerto style, but nothing in Finzi's output quite prepares one for the force and mastery of his Cello Concerto. Apart from some individual songs, the Cello Concerto was Finzi's last completed work.« less
LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME! World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma featured in the Cello Concerto! Gerald Finzi (1901-56) first came to notice for his distinctive compositions in the early 1920s. He had a special affinity for choral and vocal music, but also wrote noteworthy instrumental and orchestral music. Finzi's Clarinet Concerto was composed during the richest, fullest period of his life. The war over, he had returned to the house he and his wife had built in 1938. Before his Opus 40, Finzi had composed four works in concerto style, but nothing in Finzi's output quite prepares one for the force and mastery of his Cello Concerto. Apart from some individual songs, the Cello Concerto was Finzi's last completed work.
CD Reviews
Definitive performances
Douglas Whittet | Albany, NY United States | 08/31/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These recordings were only available on LP for many years and have at last been remastered and reissued on CD. The cover shows a very young-looking Yo-Yo Ma - this was one of his very first recordings. Both Ma's performace of the cello concerto and John Denman's of the clarinet concerto are wonderful. If you don't know these works, do give them a try. Finzi was primarily a composer of songs and choral works, these concertos are generally considered to be his best orchestral compositions. His style is highly tonal and his music has hidden depth that repays repeated listening. Anyone who responds positively to (e.g.) Sibelius and Vaughan Williams should enjoy this.
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Magnificent Concertos
D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 02/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I discovered this CD browsing through a magazine where it was identified as Yo-Yo Ma's first recording. I had heard some of Gerald Finzi's music but not purchased any recording of his major works.
The Clarinet Concerto was written during a happy period for the composer following the Second World War. The concerto is scored for a string orchestra. The first movement is relatively short with the emphasis placed on the central Adagio. The mood of the concerto is lyrical and reflective with a soaring, beautiful part but not one of display for a virtuoso. The Allegro finale is joyous and energetic with some more reflective passages before the dance-like opening melody returns. A final short cadenza for the clarinet leads to a bright conclusion.
The Cello Concerto, by contrast, was largely written when Gerald Finzi was fighting leukemia, which would claim his life in 1956. The Concerto has a dramatic introduction for full orchestra. The soloist enters alone with a melancholy melody and is slowly joined by different solo instruments from the orchestra. The concerto alternates between reflective passages and ferocity. The lengthy cadenza for the soloist is dark in mood and gradually given way to the ominous chords of the opening bars; a crash on the gong seems to signal disaster and the music slowly fades away.
The middle movement begins with a quiet melody passed to various instruments. The soloist enters picking up theme. The music becomes more passionate but maintains a reflective mood throughout; the music fades away to conclude. The finale continues the mood of the prior movement briefly before becoming more animated with a spirited melody for soloist and orchestra. The music becomes more energetic with some great interplay between orchestra and soloist and concludes with a flourish.
Vernon Handley conducts the New Philharmonia Orchestra (Clarinet Concerto) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Cello Concerto) in these very fine and perceptive performances. There is some very fine playing from clarinetist John Denman and the (then) young Yo-Yo Ma. I think this disc would serve as a good introduction to the music of Gerald Finzi and recommend it highly.
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Nice realizations of two beautiful concerti
Syrinx | Austria | 11/29/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) today is mostly known for his songs and choral works. I got to know him through one his song cycles (Till Earth Outwears, Op 19) and his use of tonality and especially counterpoint made me grow an interest in his music. The study of counterpoint with R.O. Morris actually had a great influence on Finzi. The important results of this special interest clearly seen in these two wonderful concerti as well.
His melodies have this immense beauty and attractiveness, such as the first theme of the first movement of his clarinet concerto, here receiving a great performance from John Denman and Vernon Handley. It's very hard to imagine that any other instrument could really take the part of the clarinet. Counterpoint has a hidden effect in developing the themes in this concerto. It's also interesting to note that a dramatic concerto like this ends with one of the happiest finales Finzi has ever written, which brings an interesting contrast to the concerto, but it's my least favorite movement. Another influence of a deep study of counterpoint is to be noted here: His melodies -just like the theme of the 3rd movement- just keep on going, evolving and flowing.
The Cello Concerto is the lesser known of the two concerti represented here (Finzi also wrote a Violin Concerto in his youth). As other reviewers have noted Yo-Yo Ma shines in this concerto. After the dramatic first movement we face another great slow 2nd movement of Finzi. Again we see a melody of great beauty and length. It's regarded as one of Finzi's greatest moments. The orchestration is skillful and gets a beautiful realization the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Handley's baton. The finale has a very different atmosphere compared to the finale of the Clarinet Concerto. The march-like principal theme is skillfully contrasted with the secondary themes, while keeping the 'giocoso' atmosphere of the movement. My only complaints are the endings of some movements -like the finale of the Cello Concerto or the first movement of the Clarinet Concerto. Even on repeated listening I still feel that it's all too sudden. Sadly, the Cello Concerto was the last piece Finzi listened to one day before his death.
These recordings are great introductions to Finzi's orchestral works. Vernon Handley has made great contributions to British music. He has made many great recordings of e.g. Bax, Arnold, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Elgar. Many people wonder why he still didn't get knighthood -which sort of became a tradition for successful British conductors-. Hope you enjoy these concerti as much as I did!"
Finally reissued: Handely's Finzi is the record to measure o
J. F. Laurson | Washington, DC United States | 12/10/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"None other than (the very young) Yo-Yo Ma is the soloist in Handley's first (and finally re-issued) recording of Finzi's late masterpiece of a cello concerto. This was the first commercial recording of the work written in Finzi's last year (1956), and it remains the best. John Denman plays the 1946 Clarinet Concerto - and it more than holds its own next to Thea King (Hyperion) and Richard Stoltzman (RCA, oop). This is unfashionably melodic, albeit dark, music by a composer more preoccupied with the urgency to express himself in an idiom of beauty than the musico-academic tussles that went on between Schoenbergian and Stravinskian composers at the time."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1