Search - Mozart, Johnson, Leppard :: Clarinet Concerto / Exsultate Jubilate

Superlative!

Mr. Richard P. Scott | 12/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Emma Johnson was voted Britain's ''Young Musician of the Year'' in 1984, and she is still only 18. Many TV viewers will remember her making a virtually unknown concerto by Crusell sound irresistibly witty, and surprisingly she does the same to the finale of the Mozart Concerto which, at an unusually fast tempo, has a giocoso quality that is both novel and enchanting. She also manages the very soft phrases in the slow movement most beautifully, and quite rightly she adds miniature cadenzas at the pause marks. Not all do. If there are any faint traces of insecurity, I hope that in ironing them out she doesn't lose the youthful freshness that makes her playing so unusually pleasing. Her virtuosity is a wonder too, and she is most sensitively supported by the orchestra."