Variations on La ci darem la mano li Beethoven
Sonata for clarinet and piano in E flat, Op 120 No 2 li Brahms
Sonata for clarinet and piano li Poulenc
Three pieces for clarinet solo li Stravinsky
Vocalise, Op 34 no 14 li Rachmaninov
Il Carnevale di Venezia li Giamperi
Emma Johnson and her clarinet are hardly to be separated; the instrument is an extension of her voice, able to do all that the voice can do and then some more. In Beethoven's variations on Mozart's La ci darem la mano, happily arranged for clarinet and piano by Simeon Bellison, she imparted a whimsical grace to the music so that while still being serious it was sheer fun to listen to. She and her accompanist, John Lenehan, responded instantly to each other, never missing a nuance.
The three movements of the second work in Tuesday's recital at the NCH, Brahms's second clarinet sonata, were like three wordless arias, so expressive was the shaping of the melodic line. Such tenderness was evoked - such passion! Poulenc's sonata, a work for which the adjective "spiky" might have been invented, demands a different style, as do Stravinsky's three pieces for clarinet solo. Emma Johnson's musical personality has its spiky side too, and sounded as natural in these 20th-century works as in the earlier; and the jazzy nature of the Stravinsky was a little short of persuading her to dance as she played.
Rachmaninov's Vocalise, a true song without words, can seem overlong but on this occasion the clarinet outvoiced any voice I have heard singing it, and so carefully judged were dynamics and phrasing that it seemed exactly the right length.