Close Up Concert – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

This concert in the intimate surroundings of the fantastic Music Room at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall features the outstanding UK clarinettist Julian Bliss accompanied by the excellent  pianist James Baillieu.

The concert included five superb pieces of music written for clarinet and piano.

Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet and piano  (1962) is a short, energetic, and quite dazzling piece. In three movements, Poulenc’s sonata simply soars and brings a whole new meaning to the word melodic – the second slow movement is absolutely  beautiful, and Bliss really shows us why he is  one of the UK’s first and foremost exponents of the clarinet.

Claude Debussy’s Premiere Rapsodie (First Rhapsody) (1910) is a sublime and exhilarating piece of music and although not as well-known as most of Debussy’s other works, it does retain a unique freshness and special charm in its own right. 

Henri Benjamin Rabaud’s composition Solo De Concours (1901) is a perfect addition to the programme and a prime example of late chamber music. Exciting and intriguing in turn, both Bliss and Baillieu give it the five-star treatment.

Robert Schumann’s  Stille Tranen (Silent Tears)  (1840) is an overwhelmingly romantic piece of music and Bliss gave an extraordinary performance  of this Schumann classic. Lilting and profoundly moving in turn, Schumann’s composition lingers in the memory for a long time after.

Brahms Sonata No. 1 in F minor (1894) is an astonishing  piece of work in four movements. The sonata comes from a period in Brahm’s later life when he discovered the beauty  of the clarinet, it was such a revelation to the composer that he produced not one but two sonatas’ for both clarinet and piano.

Sonata No.1 is a good choice to include in this concert because I think musically and structurally it is the strongest of the two pieces. It has  a real depth and  an emotional resonance that comes through in its composition and both Bliss and Baillieu perform with great verve and sensitivity.

This was an excellent concert with such a varied and enjoyable programme of short classics. Bliss’s performance throughout was genuinely off the scale, he gave a true virtuoso performance on the clarinet, and he was matched by the equally superb Baillieu on piano.

Reviewer: Kiefer Williams

Reviewed: 27^th October 2023

North West End UK Rating: