Royal HospitalBy Michael Dervan
Clarinet Sonatina - Joseph HorovitzAndante and Rondo Capriccioso Mendelssohn Clarinet Sonata - PoulencTraviata Fantasy - LovreglioBallade No 3 - Chopin Grand Duo Concertant - Weber
Londoner Michael Collins is not only the most regular of clarinettist visitors to Ireland but also the most popular. There was a strong turnout for his Limerick Music Association concert on Thursday at the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook.
The music he played was - for the listener, though hardly for the performers - all at the lighter end of the spectrum. Joseph Horovitz's Sonatina is lightly brushed with soft touches of jazz. Poulenc's Sonata cuts with sharper edges and was the product of an altogether more sophisticated compositional mind.
Lovreglio's Traviata Fantasy is one of those pieces based on familiar tunes into which the arranger tries to weave extra notes with a profusion that will be sufficient to astonish.
And the evening ended with Weber's Grand Duo Concertant, that most perennially perky of clarinet favourites. Collins played them all as to the manner born and threw in an extra bon-bon, Messager's Solo de concours as an encore.
His partner for the evening was Vanessa Latarche, who was heavy-handed in the solo items by Mendelssohn and Chopin but generally more restrained when the clarinet held the floor.
