Archived performance
Performance details
4 April 2019 at 7.30pm
Melbourne Recital Centre
5 April 2019 at 7.30pm
Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University
About this performance
Program
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Dean Clarinet Concerto
Beethoven Symphony No.7
Featuring
Michael Collins director / clarinet
Paul Dean clarinet – 2019 Composer in Residence
The concert
The clarinet is known as the smooth talker of the orchestra. Cheeky and sometimes raunchy, it’s also capable of stunning warmth and beauty. And in this concert, you’ll experience the clarinet’s dynamic versatility showcased in two works, performed by two brilliant virtuosi.
First is Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto; a perennial favourite, and the total package as far as concertos go. Its lyrical second movement has an endearing honesty, and is framed by two charming fast movements; a bright and cheery allegro, and a playfully elegant finale. Bringing it to life is world-class soloist Michael Collins, who also leads the MSO in this performance.
Collins then takes the conductor’s baton for the next work: a brand-new clarinet concerto by MSOComposer in Residence Paul Dean. And who better to perform the solo in this exciting premiere than Dean himself, another clarinetist of international renown.
You’ll struggle to stay still in Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, which makes for an exhilarating climax to this concert. A work with no real slow movement, the symphony was described by Richard Wagner as ‘the apotheosis of the dance’.
Paul Dean’s Clarinet Concerto has been commissioned by Andrew Johnston and premiered by the MSO to mark the 65th Wedding Anniversary of his parents, Stephanie and David Johnston.
Pictured: Michael Collins | Image credit: Ben Ealovega
