Michael Collins

“Michael Collins’s artistry is what counts, for Louis Spohr’s music in these clarinet concertos never rises beyond the pleasant. The highlight of No 3 is the slow movement, treated to some of Collins’s most limpid tones, and Spanish touches in No 4 add colour to some dour 19th-century furniture. Spohr eschews cadenzas, but plenty of virtuosity is packed into Collins’s dexterity and kaleidoscopic tones. More sparkle from the Swedish Chamber Orchestra would help.” The Times, 2nd May 2008 ***

“Collins completes his recordings of these delightful concertos with the contrasting works presented here, both in minor keys (F and E, respectively). The F minor is the more brilliant of the two, and Collins dazzles like a bel canto diva in the pyrotechnic leaps, trills and runs, while he lavishes his rich tone, phenomenal breath control and deeply satisfying expressive insights on the E minor.” Sunday Times, 27th April 2008 ****

“Collins plays with an inspirational touch, too, and no more so than in the charming and witty "Rondo al espagnol" that rounds off No 4. Beautifully balanced sound, making this an exceptionally attractive disc.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“Michael Collins repeats the success of his disc of Nos 1 and 2 with elegantly phrased melodies, immaculate passagework and wondrously even trills. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Robin O'Neill again provide alert support, and the recording is outstanding.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

Originally released in 1992, this is one of Metier’s most successful releases, and is re-issued by demand. The original Gramophone review was written by Michael Oliver. 'Herbert Howells wrote a brief note about his Piano Quartet, slightly defensively justifying his having written such an effusion of untroubled lyricism in 1916, when many of his contemporaries and friends were facing death (in the case of his closest friend, Ivor Gurney worse than death) in the battlefields of the First World War. He needn't have, of course: Gurney's talisman against total destruction by his experiences at the front was the thought of the landscapes that he and Howells loved, and it was one of those landscapes that Howells evoked in the Quartet, a hill just outside Gloucester, an image of the indestructible. And anyhow, is the piece really untroubled? I at least can hear in the finale a shadow of disquiet, even of a ghost walking on Chosen (or Chalkdown) Hill. But for the rest the abiding impression of the work is not of evanescent nature poetry, still less a redolence of cowpats, but a wonderfully sturdy and forthright lyricism. An 'early' work, the tunes are already Howells's own; so is the finely restrained depth of feeling. The slightly later Phantasy Quartet has rather more of elegy to it, in the solo lines at the beginning, which are recalled at the centre of the single movement and in the pensive coda. But again my notes are studded with synonyms for 'sturdy': 'stalwart' and 'robust' among them. A further development is heard in the immediately post-war Rhapsodic Quintet (again in a single movement). The lyricism here is more subdued, the energy more angular, as though Howells were deliberately taming the fecundity of his invention and making his ideas really work for their living; the variety of their development is all the more striking for this. The performances have just the qualities one hopes for: the sense of a group of young performers delightedly discovering that these neglected works are not in the least dusty or faded, but strong, urgent and brilliantly crafted is palpable throughout..'

‘What a heart! When Collins recapped the adagio theme in a ravishing hush, time and the world stood still.’ The Times

"This can hardly fail, can it? The quality, range and sheer generosity of the programme, plus the line-up of star performers, bids fair to make it a bestseller. Play the record good and loud: if your neighbours hear it I reckon they are more likely to come round and join you than to bang on the walls." The review ended: "… if this album enjoys the success it deserves, it should not be too much to ask for EMI and Rattle to consider a follow-up." Gramophone

“Zhou’s musical language is an accessible East-West fusion that gives every idea plenty of time to be assimilated (The Telegraph)

‘An outstanding disc, excellently recorded’ (BBC Music Magazine)