The crowning achievement of the Lopez-Cobos Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 recording was Richard Hawley's gorgeous clarinet solo at the beginning of (movement) III. It is red meat for any good clarinetist, but rarely have I heard it played with such a combination of expression and tonal beauty.

His ability to turn ebony into gold -- to impose his will on the instrument and make it sing -- was evident throughout, from rapid passages to the hushed return of the opening theme in the serene Adagio

Weber's Clarinet Quintet Op 34, when played by an intellectually astute, and technically untouchable clarinetist like Richie Hawley, is like hearing a genius revealed at last.

The result was stunning, surely one of the best performances in a season fortunately full of excellent renderings of Reich's music. The intricate multiple lines bent and blended, but never blurred in a kind of musical version of Piet Mondrian's "Broadway Boogie Woogie."

His playing of the Mozart Quintet tempted the word "perfect," for, as is customary with him, everything was in place -- tonally, rhythmically and above all, musically.