“French Beauties and Swedish Beasts” was the title given to this Wigmore Hall recital by Martin Fröst and Roland Pöntinen, including classic clarinet repertoire by Debussy, Poulenc and Chausson interspersed with Swedish works composed especially for him. But it was also a trip down memory lane, for this was also the title given to the Swedish clarinettist’s debut solo album, recorded in Malmö back in 1994. A quarter of a century on, Fröst retains his Peter Pan boyish looks, his phenomenal tone and his delight in dare-devil risk-taking.
Debussy’s Prèmiere Rhapsodie had humble beginnings, written as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire, a “solo de concours” in all but title and it contains real challenges. Its dreamy opening evokes something of the languorous mood of his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, the clarinet awakening from a reverie and quickly turning to mischief. Fröst’s velvet tone, plush even when whispered, was immediately established, and the range of his dynamic contrasts was truly astonishing. Slinky hips and lightning pivots are part of his performance choreography – Nijinsky’s faun reborn.
Francis Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata exploded out of the blocks, Fröst responding to the work’s quicksilver changes of character which very much reflect the two sides to the composer’s personality. The critic Claude Rostande once described Poulenc as “moitié moine, moitié voyou” (half-monk, half-rascal) and the clarinet has to switch from ghostly piety to scornful impudence in the twinkling of an eye. Fröst caught the bittersweet melancholy of the second movement Romanza acutely, while the Allegro con fuoco finale rattled along at electrifying speed, Pöntinen clinging onto Fröst’s coattails.