Clarinet Colours

It is such a great pleasure to have another recording from Jared Sacks, whose “retirement” has not slowed his recording activities. As with so many who enjoy life, he tells me he is doing what he loves: “How can I say ‘No’ to musicians who want me to come record with them?” And I savor every new release.
In this case, we have something new and very different—composers and musicians whose work I do not know and who come from a part of the world I know so little about. That in itself is a thrill.
These are concertos for clarinet by South African composers, all from the twentieth century, and all written for or dedicated to South African/Dutch clarinetist Maria du Toit—a musician of consummate skill.
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The concerto both opens and closes with energy and virtuosic brilliance, while the central slow movement highlights the clarinet’s limpid, vocal quality in music of notable warmth and introspection. Earl achieves a welcome balance that allows the clarinet to emerge from—and occasionally dissolve back into—the surrounding orchestral fabric. The concluding movement, based on variations of a fourteenth-century French song, brings the work to an energetic and satisfying close.
This is an album I’ve enjoyed immensely, for the music, the performances, and the superb sound quality. I have never been a particular enthusiast for the clarinet, but these works—and Maria du Toit’s outstanding performances—have won me over completely.
Warmly recommended.