The Clarinet Concerto by Gerald Finzi is one of the glories of English music and it is given a splendid performance by Robert Plane under...

The Clarinet Concerto by Gerald Finzi is one of the glories of English music and it is given a splendid performance by Robert Plane under the auspices of the Northern Sinfonia. Part sunny while at other times melancholy, this is a deeply-felt work that is all the more rewarding for Plane's appropriately warm tone and reserve. The Five Bagatelles, which are alternately sprightly and serene, are as equally evocative of the English pastoral tradition. The plaintive quality of the languid Andante tranquillo is especially moving.
The 'Three Soliloquies' originated as part of Finzi's incidental music for a 1946 BBC radio broadcast of Shakespeare's LOVE'S LABOURS LOST and were only later re-scored for concert performance. Finzi is a master at creating an atmosphere of romantic reverie and longing for the characters set at the court of the King of Navarre. As for the remaining works, 'A Severn Rhapsody' is gorgeous miniature that evokes the idyllic English countryside while the Romance in E flat appears to owe its influence to Elgar. Finally, the Introit in F is a gentle and tender work that was originally intended as the slow movement for a violin concerto that was later abandoned.