‘Clarinet Fantasias from England and Ireland’ is the subtitle. The rather neat idea that provides a structure for this programme is what used to be known as ‘The English Ring’ – or, more prosaically, ‘The Irish Ring’ because of the Irish connections between composers and works, namely three immensely popular (in their day) operas: The Bohemian Girl, The Lily of Killarney and Maritana. That neat idea was the brainchild of clarinettist and conductor Howard Rogerson who, having known of two fantasias on the Balfe and Wallace operas, devised one himself for the Benedict in a similar 19th-century style. These three provide the bookends and centre of the album…
Between them come a variety of more-or-less short, varied works… six brief numbers of the Phantasy Suite by Thomas Dunhill… and Joseph Holbrooke’s The Butterfly of the Ballet and Canzonetta, the latter a simplified and shortened version of the slow movement of his Clarinet Quintet…
“It is always a pleasure to hear Robert Plane and Benjamin Frith in their respective solo roles. Together, they seem to be of one mind – good casting, one might say… Altogether a classy and handsomely presented release.”
