Farjot / Votano / Pierlot - Contemporary Clarinet Concerto (CD)

Jean-Luc Votano, principal clarinet of the Liège Royal Philharmonic (OPRL), here presents a work by a 'classic' figure of the twentieth century, the Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra of Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1930), along with two compositions of the twenty-first: Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto, of which Votano gave the Belgian premiere with the OPRL, and Fantasme - Cercles de Mana by Johan Farjot. The latter work, scored for clarinet, viola, cello and orchestra, here receives it's world premiere recording before being performed in front of a concert hall audience. This is an album that admirably reflects the virtuosity and musicality of one of the OPRL's principal soloists.