Finzi: Cello Concerto, Op. 40 & Clarinet Concerto, Op. 31

Chronique

There are listeners who swear cellist Yo-Yo Ma is at his best in the English repertoire. They may disregard his Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, and even dismiss his Haydn, Dvorák, and Shostakovich, but they'll solemnly declare Ma's recordings of Elgar, Walton, and Gerald Finzi as the best things he's ever done. To listeners who know Ma only as the big-toned, sweet-hearted super-virtuoso who recorded Appalachia Waltz, Silk Road Journeys, and Obrigado Brazil, the notion that he ever even recorded Finzi's Cello Concerto will be news. Yet, as this Lyrita disc proves, way back in 1979 Ma did indeed record the work with Vernon Handley and the Royal Philharmonic. And it is a honey of a performance. Ma's in top form -- he never misses a note and his tone is ravishing -- he's hungry -- he never misses a chance to make the most of every opportunity for demonstrating his prowess -- but best of all he's dedicated -- listen to him dig into the opening Allegro moderato's coda, or soar with the central Andante quieto's big tunes, or swing into the closing Allegro giocoso's rollicking rhythms. Combined with the deeply idiomatic and supremely soulful accompaniment of Handley and the RPO, Ma's performance makes a powerful case for Finzi's concerto ranking with Elgar and Walton's as the peaks of the English repertoire. Anyone who likes English music or Ma should hear this disc. As a generous coupling to Finzi's 41-minute long Cello Concerto, Lyrita has included Finzi's 29-minute-long Clarinet Concerto recorded in 1977 by soloist John Denman with the New Philharmonia Orchestra led by Bernard Partridge. Another essentially lyrical three-movement work with a particularly expansive central Adagio, Finzi's Clarinet Concerto is easily in the same league as his Cello Concerto and Denman makes as persuasive a case for it as Ma does with the Cello Concerto. Lyrita's late stereo recording is warm, cool, deep, and colorful.
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