Contrasts: Impressions of Hungary

Acclaimed and award-winning clarinettist Robert Plane presents a highly spiced collection of Hungarian music by Bartok, Rozsa, Weiner, Dohnanyi and Kurtag. -Includes the world premiere recording of a piece by Tibor Serly, better known as the completer of Bartok's Viola Concerto. Plane discovered the piece quite by accident, through a chance meeting with saxophonist Chris Gradwell who had originally intended to give the UK premiere. "I couldn't believe that such an atmospheric and infectiously witty piece had lain undiscovered for so long." The music embraces the spirit of Hollywood, albeit tongue-in-cheek. -Plane is joined by Gould Piano Trio members Lucy Gould and Benjamin Frith in Bartok's Contrasts (1938), which was commissioned by Benny Goodman for him to play with violinist Joseph Szigeti. The two outer rhythmic dance movements are interspersed with a slower 'Relaxation' with the addition of piano, which Bartok added in 1940. -The most substantial work on the album is Dohnányi's Sextet in C major, Op.37, written in 1935, his final major chamber composition. Demanding considerable virtuosity from its players, it is very much in the post-Brahms style with which Dohnányi was most comfortable.