//The World Came to Me (6)//

I gotta confess. The only reason that brought me to this concert was the Adagio from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. I have this CD of clarinetist Robert Marcellus’ 1961 recording with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra with me for decades. And this recording has always been my savior whenever I desperately need to find some inner peace. Teacher once said, “You will never find an interpretation that matches what you have in your head.” There is an untouchable & out-of-the-world quality to this exquisite piece of music. So with a guarded expectation, I went to this concert.

PROGRAM

Mozart / The Marriage of Figaro Overture, K492
Mozart / Clarinet Concerto in A, K622
Mozart / Serenade No. 10 in B-flat, K361, “Gran Partita”

It was a delight watching Michael Collins’s clarinet dancing and twirling, making Mozart’s music come to live. Teacher was right though. I will probably never see an interpretation that matches what I have in my head. To me, Robert Marcellus’ recording is still the closest version thus far.

The extra bonus I got from that night was the discovery of the oboe. I never really paid much attention to the oboe in the orchestra. But that night when Hong Kong Sinfonietta then-principal oboist Marrie Rose Kim played in the “Gran Partita”, I was like “Wow!”. Her oboe was dancing and fencing with Michael Collins’ clarinet. And it was so beautiful and powerful. Since then I always looked for her on stage in Hong Kong Sinfonietta concerts.

Here’s a review of the concert in South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1593158/great-clarinet-concertos-michael-collins-plays-mozart.

And a more recent (2019) performance of the Mozart’s clarinet concert by Michael Collins with the London Mozart Players: