Clarinettist Robert Plane will honour the life and legacy of Gerald Finzi in two concerts presented by the Finzi Trust in September.

Finzi’s music holds a place of special importance in Robert’s rich music life. In 1998, Naxos released a collection of Finzi’s works for clarinet and orchestra, including the Clarinet Concert and Five Bagatelles, recorded by Robert alongside the Northern Sinfonia. The disc won a Gramophone Award for Best Concerto Recording, and was unanimously praised by the critical press, with BBC Music Magazine writing that “the playing throughout is first-class, with Robert Plane proving an excellent soloist able to exploit both the elegiac and virtuosic aspects of the music with equal success”.

In 2021, the Finzi Trust broadcast an interview with Robert in which he gave unique insight into the Clarinet Concerto from his perspective as a performer, and as a former student of Thea King, whose late husband Frederick Thurston was the dedicatee of the work.

Robert remarked that “for me, this is the go-to work of the 20th century. It defines everything there is about the clarinet – the lyricism, the agility, and in particular the melancholy.”

The Finzi Anniversary Gala takes place on 27th September, and celebrates the composer in the 125th anniversary year of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death. Robert will perform in two concerts as part of the gala, beginning with matinée recital which features a selection of Finzi’s chamber music in which he will perform the Five Bagatelles. In the evening, he will perform the Clarinet Concerto alongside Sinfonia Smith Square in a concert that shines a light on Finzi’s orchestral and choral works. Both concerts take place at Temple Church, with full details available via the links below.