Ever wanted to hear Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on the clarinet? Here’s your chance to find out. Does it work? In theory, you’d think so. After all, wouldn’t Beethoven’s melodic purity and almost “anti-virtuoso” treatment of the solo part translate to any old instrument? Indeed, Michael Collins and Mikhail Pletnev prove that the Beethoven Concerto can be appropriated to the clarinet with few problems, provided the soloist has places to breathe. The main question however is not how the music fits the clarinet technically, but if the music suits the clarinet. I’m not convinced that it does, because the violin’s timbre largely governs the solo part’s expressive qualities. Consider, for instance, the soloist’s entrance in the opening movement. On the violin, this passage emerges with a penetrating intensity far removed from the clarinet’s mellower sound world. Beethoven’s long, lyrical melodies in the slow movement, when applied to the clarinet, become more comfortable and rounded yet less fragile and seraphic. Collins makes the most of Beethoven’s introspective eloquence, but is hampered by an accompaniment that might as well have been phoned in. Pletnev provides little dynamic contrast, rhythmic incision, or melodic inflection in the outer movements, although the slow movement is nicely sustained. But try the enervated 16th-note accompanying string figures throughout the first movement, or the Rondo’s lack of sparkle and swagger for some truly jaded music making. The Mozart Concerto, by contrast, benefits from crisp string articulation, transparent woodwinds, and perfectly judged tempos. Clone the Mozart for yourself, and then donate this disc to a clarinetist in need.
