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Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du Temps
Thème et Variations
Les Offrandes oubliées (transcribed for piano)
Robert Plane, clarinet
Gould Piano Trio
Chandos
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Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
Clarinet Sonata
Piano
Trio No
3
3
Intermezzi
2
Fantasies
Robert Plane, clarinet
Gould Piano Trio
Mia
Copper, violin · David
Adams, viola
Naxos 8.570416
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Editor’s Choice, Gramophone November 2007
Classic FM Disc of the Week
'Spooky, no sooner had I dug out Thea King's affectionate 1980 Hyperion recording of the Stanford 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 dynamic range, Plane forges a commandingly articulate alliance with pianist Benjamin Frith. Indeed, it's hard to imagine more sympathetic music-making – a statement which 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…Naxos's
absurdly
modest asking-price
is the icing
on the cake!'
Gramophone November 2007
'Robert Plane is superb …Dashing performances for minimal wallet-damage – why are you waiting.' Editor's Choice, Gramophone November 2007
'Plane's clarinet has an eloquent and expressive voice. He can be clownish, rude, barracking and sneering; he can weep, simper and smarm; he can joke, cackle and cheer. He can also produce whispered tone from nothing, bite the air with a chisel edge, roar low down like a didgeridoo or soar with the pure white sound of a cathedral treble. He can do all this among chords recognisable from Stanford's church music.'
The Times August 2007
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Gerald
Finzi
Clarinet Concerto
and
other works
Robert
Plane, clarinet
Northern Sinfonia
Howard Griffiths
Naxos
8.553566
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Recommended Recording - Building a Library, CD Review, BBC Radio 3
Winner, Classic CD Best Concerto Recording 2000
Gramophone, Editor's Choice'
'But it is one of the merits of this exceptional performance that Robert Plane’s mellifluous playing is so perfectly suited to the clarinet’s role as peacemaker, while the Northern Sinfonia strings add the necessary edge when it is required.'
Anthony Burton - 1001 Classical Recordings you must hear before you die
'..but the performance of the Finzi Clarinet Concerto which, for me, gets right to the heart is the excellent Robert Plane's....sinuous and flexible.'
Building a Library, BBC Radio 3
'His
virtuoso command and clear fresh tone are most impressive,
with clean, crisp definition
The slow movement brings
a glorious performance, rapt and expansive, with hushed playing
lovingly expressive. An outstanding bargain version.'
Gramophone 2001
This
is an absolutely delightful programme which will be especially
welcome to all lovers of English music. The playing throughout
is first-class, with Robert Plane proving an excellent soloist
able to exploit both the elegiac and virtuosic aspects of
the music with equal success.'
BBC Music Magazine ***** 1998
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Arnold Bax
Clarinet Sonatas
Piano Trio · Trio in One Movement
Robert Plane, clarinet
Gould Piano Trio
Naxos 8.557698
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Final Shortlist Gramophone Awards (Chamber Music) 2006
'The performances are excellent, and Robert Plane is responsive to the shifting moods of the mature sonata...a programme to intrigue all Bax enthusiasts'
BBC Music Magazine
'Robert Plane's irreproachably alert and stylish account with Benjamin Frith leaves a delightlful impression. Plane's timbre could hardly be more alluring and he strikes up a tangible rapport with Frith. Enthusiasts can rest assured that these admirably agile and idiomatic performers give Bax's youthful inspiration every chance to shine; indeed, it's impossible to imagine a more convincing account of the Trio'
Gramophone |
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Johannes Brahms
Trios - Volume Two
Horn Trio · Piano Trio No 3 · Clarinet Trio
Robert Plane, clarinet
David Pyatt, horn
Gould Piano Trio
Quartz QTZ2042
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' ....the result is gorgeous, as here in the serene conclusion to the slow movement of the Clarinet Trio...exuding poise and elegance.'
CD Review BBC Radio 3
'....splendid performances.This richly rewarding release completes the Gould's admirable cycle on a high note. Full of lyrical outpouring, warm and varied tone, and perfect judgement of tempi, all these performances display an all too rare ability to combine in equal measure instrumental cohesion and expressive individuality. These are conversations, never debates...heart-warming and mind-nourishing celebrations of community-vividly characterised, very shrewdly built, while never sacrificing small-scale detail to large-scale structure, and grippingly communicative.'
Piano Magazine |
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Wagner
& Strauss
Strauss - Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon
and
other works
Robert
Plane, clarinet
Stephen Reay, bassoon
Northern Sinfonia
Richard Hickox
CHAN
9354
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'..simply
ravishing. Robert Plane and Stephen Reay are the excellent
soloists on this delightful disc.'
The Times 1995
'..an
irresistible performance of the Strauss Duett-Concertino
for clarinet and bassoon, teasing and graceful in its phrasing,
taut of rhythm, and the recorded sound well-balanced and
distributed.'
BBC Music Magazine 1995
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Herbert
Howells
Rhapsodic Quintet, Clarinet Sonata
Near-Minuet
and
other works
mobius
Naxos
8.557188
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'Howell's
Rhapsodic Quintet for clarinet and string quartet is one of
the most beautiful clarinet works of the 20th Century. Robert
Plane plays with a ravishing range of tone and natural warmth
.'
The Guardian 2004
'The
Clarinet Sonata, Howells's last major chamber work
was completed in 1946. The dedicatee was Frederick Thurston,
and the wonderfully idiomatic 1980 recording by his wife
and pupil Thea King has certainly stood the test of time.
Robert Plane's poetic account is possibly finer still,
with its entrancing poise and liquid tone. Plane shines
too in the coquettish miniature A Near-Minuet and sublime
Rhapsodic Quintet.'
Gramophone 2004
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Mozart,
Weber, Debussy & Ravel
Weber - Clarinet Quintet in B flat
and
other works
mobius
EMI
7243 5 73162 2 4
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'..a
terrific account of the Weber Clarinet Quintet, dazzlingly
dispatched by Robert Plane.'
Gramophone 2000
'With
his bright, singing tone and rock-solid technique, clarinettist
Robert Plane creates a formidable impression in the Weber
Quintet; his is playing of great wit, virtuosity and imaginative
flair. An account to savour.'
Hi-Fi News and Record Review 2000
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James
MacMillan
Tuireadh
and
other works
Robert
Plane, clarinet
Emperor String Quartet
BIS-CD-1269
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"The
loneliness one dare not sound": Emily Dickinson's frightened
image could well serve as the motto for James MacMillan's
Tuireadh (Gaelic for lament) where Robert Plane's gull-like
clarinet swoops or hovers around the anguished Emperor String
Quartet in remembrance of the ill-fated North Sea oil-rig
Piper Alpha. Some have spoken of the work's "keening",
its sighing and sobbing. But the overriding impression for
me is of solitary witness: the scrub of bows on gut like
wave-slapped wreckage, or a winged clarinet fighting off
jagged string chords. Every now and again MacMillan cues
an ethereal chorale. A moment of respite or the crooked
finger of a summoning god?..... a remarkable programme that's
beautifully played and superbly recorded.'
The Independent
'I
can report that performances throughout are as superlatively
disciplined as they are tirelessly eloquent; sound, balance
and presentation are all beyond reproach. Another MacMillan/BIS
triumph.'
Gramophone Aug 2002
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Jean
Françaix
Three Quintets & Piccoli Duetti
mobius
ASV
- CD DCA 1090
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'Lovely,
richly communicative performances one and all (soloist Robert
Plane creates a dashingly eloquent impression in the Clarinet
Quintet), and ideal late-night listening.'
Andrew Aschenbach amazon.co.uk
'...skilful,
idiomatic performances..Altogether a must for chocaholics.'
Gramophone
'Mobius..deliver
the goods with energy, grace and lyrical feeling'
BBC Music Magazine *****
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Max
Bruch
Kol Nidrei, 8 Pieces Op 83
and
other works
Plane
Dukes Rahman Trio
ASV
CD DCA 1133
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'In
this impressive collection of chamber music by Bruch, the
Plane Dukes Rahman have once again attained the highest musical
standards in their dedicated, sensitive performances
The
final '8 Pieces' for clarinet, viola and piano on
this disc are full of crystal-clear melodies, highlighted
throughout by lyrical sweeps of phrasing in an immaculate
performance. Overall, a cd of simple, vivid, romantic beauty.'
BBC Classical Review 2003 |
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Schumann
& Kurtag
Chamber Music for Clarinet, Viola & Piano
Plane
Dukes Rahman Trio
ASV
CD QS 6221
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'(homage
a Rsch)..In this the players seem completely at home and give
a tremendously vivid rendition, full of huge contrasts and
featuring some startling virtuosity.'
BBC Music Magazine 1998
'ASV's
medium-priced Quicksilva series includes a number of brand
new recordings of chamber music, giving an invaluable outlet
for the young British chamber musicians the company tends
to enlist. This is one of the finest
It opens with
Marchenerzahlungen, op.132. Such is the richness of the
viola tone at the lower end of the register at the lower
end of the register at the opening of this work that for
a moment I thought Philip Dukes was playing a cello. Robert
Plane's clarinet playing is equally ripe, a natural,
expressive, liquid sound, and with Sophia Rahman's
responsive piano playing completing the alchemy, the trio
give deeply felt readings of this intimate work.'
Sunday Times 1998
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Rebecca Clarke
Prelude Allegro and Pastorale for Clarinet and Viola
and other works
Robert Plane, clarinet
Philip Dukes, Viola
Sophia Rahmann, Piano
Daniel Hope, Violin
Naxos 8.557934
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'..ithe Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale for viola and clarinet, with Robert Plane on fine form.'
The Strad, May 2007
'Clarinettist Robert Plane deftly partners Dukes in the Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale.'
International Record Review, February 2007
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Aaron Copland
Clarinet Concerto
and other works
Robert Plane, clarinet
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Eric Stern
BBC Music Magazine Volume 15 No 2
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Carl
Nielsen
Clarinet Concerto & Symphony No 4 "Inextinguishable"
Robert
Plane, clarinet
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Tadaaki Otaka
BBC
Music Magazine Volume 9 No 9
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Claude
Debussy
Première Rapsode for clarinet and orchestra
and
other works
Robert
Plane, clarinet
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Tadaaki Otaka
BBC
Music Magazine Volume 10 No 1
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Forthcoming
Releases:
Hoddinott
Clarinet
Concerto No.1
Robert Plane, Welsh Chamber Orchestra/Anthony Hose
Metronome
Stanford
Clarinet Concerto
Robert Plane/ Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / David Lloyd-Jones
Naxos
John Ireland
Fantasy Sonata, Clarinet Trio, Sextet
Sophia Rahman/ Maggini Quartet/David Pyatt
Naxos
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