Charles Villiers Stanford - Piano Trio No. 3; Clarinet Sonata (Gould Piano Trio; Robert Plane)

Information

Composer: Charles Villiers Stanford

• (01) Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 129
• (04) Fantasy No. 1 for Clarinet and String Quartet
• (07) Fantasy No. 2 for Clarinet and String Quartet
• (10) Three Intermezzi for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 13
• (13) Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 158

Robert Plane, clarinet
Gould Piano Trio
Lucy Gould, violin
Alice Neary, cello
Benjamin Frith, piano
&
Mia Cooper, violin (4-9)
David Adams, viola (4-9)

Date: 2007
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570416

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Review

Dashing performances for minimal wallet-damage – why are you waiting?

Spooky: no sooner had I dug out Thea King’s affectionate 1980 Hyperion recording of the Stanford Clarinet Sonata following the sad announcement of her death in June than Robert Plane’s new version dropped on the doormat. The work is one of Stanford’s strongest achievements from his later years, boasting at its heart a powerful Adagio (“Caoine” – an Irish lament) which finds Plane even more responsive to the music’s raw emotion and beaming fantasy than either King or Emma Johnson. Ravishing in tone and exploiting an excitingly wide range of dynamic, Plane forges a commandingly articulate alliance with pianist Benjamin Frith. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine more sympathetic music-making – a statement which also holds true for the Three Intermezzi (an exceedingly attractive trilogy dating from 1879) and the two substantial, utterly disarming Fantasies for clarinet and string quartet, written in 1921-22 for use by students towards the end of Stanford’s 40-year stint as professor of composition at the Royal College of Music.

As if all that were not enough, we’re also treated to the world premiere recording of the last of Stanford’s three piano trios. Completed in 1918, it’s a tautly constructed, urgently communicative piece dedicated to the memory of the two sons (victims, both, of the Great War) of Alan Gray, Stanford’s successor as organist of Trinity College and conductor of the Cambridge University Music Society. Again, the performance is absolutely first-class and, with sound that is at once intimate and true, this valuable anthology can be welcomed with open arms. Naxos’s absurdly modest asking-price is the icing on the cake!

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Oct07/Stanford_8570416.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.570416&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanford-Clarinet-Sonata-Piano-Trio/dp/B000T8QEMG

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Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor. Some regarded Stanford, together with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, are responsible for a renaissance in music from the British Isles. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also Professor of Music at Cambridge. His students included Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and many more. His music was eclipsed in the 20th century by that of Edward Elgar as well as his former pupils.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford

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Robert Plane is a British clarinettist, particularly known for his performances and recordings of the English repertoire. Alongside his solo and chamber work, Plane has held the position of principal clarinet with Royal Northern Sinfonia, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He has played as a guest principal with the Royal Concertgebouw, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Plane teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and for many years has given an annual class at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Plane_(clarinettist)
http://www.robertplane.com/

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The Gould Trio was formed in 1987; the members of the group are violinist Lucy Gould, cellist Alice Neary, and pianist Benjamin Frith. The ensemble often performs with other instrumentalists, including clarinetist Robert Plane, who is married to Gould. Their catalogue of Late Romantic English repertoire on Chandos/Naxos/Hyperion includes the works of Bax, Scott, Ireland, Stanford, Milford and York Bowen. Other recordings include the cycle of Beethoven piano trios, recorded ‘live’ for SOMM at St George’s Bristol, as well as the trios of Dvorak and Mendelssohn for Champs Hill records.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gould-piano-trio-mn0001800421/biography

http://www.gouldpianotrio.com/

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