Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 - download (MP3 & FLAC)

“Collins, acting as both soloist and conductor, offers dazzling performances that make use of the elaborations Baermann made to the clarinet part. He is equally at home in the intimate lyricism of Weber's slow movement as he is in the brilliance of the writing elsewhere...[Stirling] rises to the challenge of the extreme technical demands [of the Concertino]” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 *****

“straightforward and sunny - bright and playful performances of the clarinet works (Michael Collins conducts himself) and Stephen Stirling evidently enjoying himself in the Horn Concertino and its tricky cadenza.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012

“At first listening this might not seem to be the most sheerly virtuosic playing on the market, partly because Collins does not restrict himself to what he can do smoothly, his dynamic range or his staccato speed just past their safe limit when his sense of the music's drama requires it...It is hardly self-evident that a new release of these famiiar works will find something new to say” International Record Review, February 2012

“Collins directs the orchestra as well as dispatching the solo parts with wit and aplomb, and he also takes charge of the accompaniment to Stephen Stirling's performance of Weber's Concertino for horn, a piece that inevitably sounds rather staid alongside the glittering clarinet works.” The Guardian, 25th January 2012 ****

“the soloist's tone, dynamics and tuning are compellingly subtle. It's a very German dark Wald ('wood') and there are demons in it as well as clowns.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012

“These are impeccably prepared performances, technically excellent, with spotless intonation and Germanic tone at its finest...Although this is undeniably brilliant playing there is no flashiness here, Steffens relying on evenness of tone and technique to make his points. It may seem old-fashioned and to some extent it is: this is above all for listeners seeking a dependable account of these pillars of the clarinet repertoire, beautifully played” International Record Review, January 2012

“Janet Hilton plays with considerable authority and spirit…” Penguin Guide

“The Swedish clarinettist Martin Fröst plays with admirable virtuosity and smoothness of tone, and it’s hard to imagine the music better performed.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 *****

“Fröst just may be the finest clarinetist (sic) alive, and this entire production is typical of what we have come to expect from BIS…There is no more exciting label around today” Classics Today

“Martin Fröst's style of playing is well suited to Weber: he has a clear, fresh tone and fingers undefeated by even the most sensational of the applause music that ends some of these works.
He is not afraid of considerable tempo variations within a movement, as Weber is on record as having wanted.
This all contributes to a charming, eloquent performance of the Concertino. However, the F minor Concerto (No 1) does not need its opening Allegro to be taken quite so fast for it to make its points, and the finale, here sounding like a brisk allegro verging on presto, is actually marked Allegretto, which gives the music more space and freedom. The slow movements of both concertos are played simply, without affectation, and Fröst remembers that the alla polacca of the finale of No 2 is a dance. He takes a bright lead in the Quintet; it is played here as a concerto with full strings, which is a pity but, given the quatuor concertant nature of the work, not as disastrous as it would be with Mozart. This is a fresh, amiable performance that responds to the music's varied nature.
Fröst also plays some cadenzas of his own, rejecting those which were later added by Carl Baermann, son of the much-admired dedicatee of the works, Heinrich Baermann. He further adds a few flourishes: unnecessarily, but there is no need to be too purist here. These are attractive, exhilarating performances, clearly recorded so as to do justice to the orchestral effects which were always part of Weber's exuberant invention.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Can hold its own against the competition in the catalogue.” Penguin Guide