Voyage of a Sea-God

After more than four decades as the principal bassoonist of the Manchester Camerata, Laurence Perkins has earned the right to record whatever he wants, and here are the glorious results. "Voyage of a Sea-God" is an epigraph from the poet and critic Sacheverell Sitwell, and the album delivers exactly what's promised, a musical journey through the 20th century with the bassoon as leader. The journey begins in 1900 with Richard Henry Walthew's Introduction and Allegro, and ends in 1999, with David Bedford's Dreams of Stac Pollaidh, for solo bassoon. Along the way are solo works, pieces accompanied by chamber ensembles, and concertos. There are world premieres and there are pieces by familiar composers (the Saint-Saëns Bassoon Sonata, Op. 168, is an especially delicious find), but there isn't a single item that could be called common, and listeners wondering whether Perkins can really find two CDs' worth of worthwhile material are in for a realignment of their thinking. The technical challenges don't bother him, and better still, his sense of humor is pitch-perfect at such moments as the deployment of the Dies irae in the Incidental Music from Macbeth of Granville Bantock. Listen and enjoy.