REVIEWS
Finzi: Clarinet Concert/
Romance for Strings
Sarah Williamson, clarinet/Orchestra of
The Swan/David Curtis, conductor
SOMM CD 244 [78' 12'']

"This new CD couples two excellent concerto performances by the very gifted Sarah Williamson, BBC Young Musician of the Year concerto finalist in 2002. She is ably partnered by David Curtis and the Orchestra of the Swan, which is rapidly making a name for itself as a major force in central England. Sarah Williamson plays both concertos in superb fashion, with a most winning sense of style, and although this is not the first CD to couple these two works on the one disc, it is certainly one of the very best in that it couples other music by these composers. Finzi's beautiful Romance may perhaps have been better revealed had the reading been more yielding and supple overall, but this performance undoubtedly reveals the underlying strength of the music. Similarly, it is infrequent to encounter Copland's Appalachian Spring ballet in the original scoring for 13 instruments, which probably suits the music better than in the fuller orchestral version he later made. In this instance, the performance has a lyrical beauty and rhythmic vitality which are highly affecting. But the record is dominated, as it should be, by the two Concertos, and in this regard it is strongly welcomed. Copland did a version of his Violin Sonata for clarinet and piano, and I hope that Ms Williamson goes on to record this too, with Bernstein's Sonata and Roy Harris's Concerto for Clarinet, Piano and String Quartet. This is an admirable disc all-round."

Alexander Leonard, MUSICAL OPINION, May 2010

"Sarah Williamson produces a beautifully regulated sound and matches her intonation against the strings with luminous accuracy. She purrs her way through the Finzi Concerto, luxuriating in the music's pastoral whimsy and phrasing with captivating sensitivity. Her sensuously velvety tone is projected without the slightest hint of breathiness, imparting a radiant cool to the Copland Concerto, especially in the jaunty finale where her gently cushioned staccato proves especially seductive. ....."

JH , Classic FM Music Magazine, June 2010

A superb player
Michael Church, The Independent, 2008

The main feature of the recital was undoubtedly the playing by Sarah, who featured in two major works, a Clarinet Concerto by Bernhard Crusell, and a "Fantasia" based on the music in Verdi's opera "La Traviata" (but arranged by the Swedish musician Jonas Forssell). These two works, very different in style, were placed either side of the interval, the Concerto coming just before, and the Fantasia just after. In both, Sarah Williamson displayed a simply wonderful ability to demonstrate the clarinet in all its variety.
Dundee Courier 2008

The audience was able to relish in the instrument’s acrobatic capabilities as well as its gift for expressive variations in tone.
Eastern Daily Press, September 2008

All said, it was an evening which crackled with electricity, inspired in no small way by clarinettist Sarah Williamson, a musician of consummate skill. (Weber Clarinet Concerto with Leicester Symphony Orchestra)
Leicester Mercury 2007

(Finzi 5 Bagatelles arr for String quartet & Clarinet)
Sarah Williamson emphasised that wistful, yet confident, sound which seems to come only from English composers.
Giles Woodforde, Oxford Times 2007

(Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet)
‘In a performance that overall perhaps emphasised the cheerful rather than the sombre emotions in the music, Williamson blended seamlessly in and out of the string writing – it sounded as if she had been a lifelong member of the Carducci team.’
Giles Woodforde, Oxford Times 2007

‘Her performance was technically superb and rhythmically exciting with awesome trills… Sarah’s playing in the fiery coda prompted gasps of ‘Wow!’ from the audience’.
Newbury Weekly News 2007

‘Sarah Williamson was simply astonishing as the soloist, demonstrating a mature musicality that went well beyond her years’
Philip Grange, Composer, Head of Composition, University of Manchester

‘A blend of languor and exuberance’
The Daily Telegraph

‘An imaginative programme, beguiling tone, and zestful presentation spiced the stage of the Purcell Room on 18 May in the Kirckman Concert Society recital by clarinettist Sarah Williamson, a finalist in the 2002 BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition’. Chief amongst many merits was Sarah Williamson’s eloquently shaped tone, light and delicately shaded with a warm chalumeau where necessary, as in the slow movement of the Poulenc Sonata and Weber’s Grand Duo. The duo’s precise co-ordination and flow were especially appealing in the rhythmically complex Sonatina by Frank martin, with its slinky Chromatic slow movement and jazzy finale. Poulenc’s Sonata bristled with bonhomie, contrasting Weill-like piquancy with the characteristic harmonic richness and wit of Les Six, the final swaggering with sparkle…. Williamson’s graceful virtuosity was most boldly evident in the tour de force, Weber’s grand duo, as enjoyable for audiences as it is challenging for performers, with its fizzing musical repartee. Two cadenzas dazzled in the fascinating works chosen to frame the programme: the Hungarian Dances by Leo Weiner….and the tuneful Solo de Concours by Andre Messager. The duo’s first-rate performance throughout was capped by their panache in the thrilling encore, James Cohn’s arrangement of a Gershwin Prelude.’
Musical Opinion Purcell Room

‘If the reception young clarinettist Sarah Williamson received…is anything to go by, then Britain has a new golden girl of classical music…. For not only is she an outstanding musician but she really is a great performer…. The entire performance was fresh and full of her own personality… Her sustained pianissimo sections were outstanding and the performance was full of expression and definition’
The Herts Advertiser