COMPOSERS: Bax
LABELS: Naxos
ALBUM TITLE: Bax
WORKS: Clarinet Sonatas; Piano Trio
PERFORMER: Robert Plane (clarinet); Gould Piano Trio
CATALOGUE NO: 8.557698
This enterprising disc begins
with Bax’s last chamber work, the
Piano Trio from 1946, a distinctly
purposeful piece with a finale in 5/8
time. It works backwards through
the rhapsodic 1934 Clarinet Sonata
in D to an unexpectedly passionate
Folk-Tale for cello and piano of 1918.
Then come two pieces apparently
constituting a rather lop-sided
Clarinet Sonata written in 1901
when Bax was still digesting the
influences of Brahms and Dvoπák.
And finally there’s his first published
chamber work, a Trio from 1906
for piano, violin and viola (replaced
on this disc by clarinet), which
in a convincing single-movement
structure mixes characteristic Bax
melodies with less typical touches
such as a fugal start to the coda.
The performances are excellent:
Lucy Gould leads the Trios in fine
style, Alice Neary is richly expressive
in the Folk-Tale, Benjamin Frith
works wonders with Bax’s alarmingly
note-laden piano parts, and Robert
Plane is responsive to the shifting
moods of the mature Sonata. There
are some preferable rival recordings
of this: on Hyperion, in a more richly
coloured Bax programme by the Nash
Ensemble, Michael Collins and Ian
Brown use rubato to subtly idiomatic
effect; while, on a Chandos disc
chiefly devoted to the Bliss Clarinet
Quintet, Janet Hilton deploys more
ingratiating tone and, with Keith
Swallow, takes a less languishing view of the first movement. But the
Naxos, decently recorded apart from
some rather cramped piano sound,
has not only the price advantage but
also a programme to intrigue all Bax
enthusiasts. Anthony Burton.