79.00 (99.00) PLN

SACD Multi-CH HDCD:

Nr kat.: CKD278
Label  : Linn Records

49.00 (69.00) PLN

CD:

Nr kat.: BKD278
Label  : Linn Records

Clarinettist Lesley Schatzberger and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, both of whom have established welldeserved reputations for thoughtfully delivered and historically considered performances, present a new recording of works by Brahms, Mozart, Glazunov and Sweeny on Linn Records. At the centrepiece of this new recording is the Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, which in their hands carries particular historical significance. Brahms was originally inspired to write the Quintet after hearing clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld perform. Interestingly Lesley Schatzberger can trace her teacher-pupil relationships back to Mühlfeld and in fact performs on a specially-made copy made of Mühlfeld’s own clarinet. This wonderful instrument creates an authentic period sound, one to which the Quartet adds by making use of contemporary style bows and gut strings. The performers adhere to certain aspects of performance practice which were in favour at that time such as the use of vibrato and portamento, while embracing Brahms’s attitude to rhythm, tempo, and rubato creating a performance with a truly authentic feel. The programme also includes a rare Mozart Quintet Movement in B flat major, completed by Duncan Druce, which is one of several unfinished Mozart works which are still being realised today, as well as Glazunov’s haunting Rêverie Orientale and An Òg-Mhadainn (The Young Morning) by Scottish contemporary composer William Sweeney which evokes the bright, clear early mornings common to the beginning of the new year. Lesley Schatzberger has been at the forefront of historical instrument performance since her student days and has taken part in pioneering performances of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven on period instruments. Founded in 1968 by four Cambridge undergraduates, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet first became well known through their close personal association with Dmitri Shostakovich, who entrusted them with the Western premières of his last three quartets.
MusicWeb International
Recording of the Month: "This is a challenging disc for all the right reasons."
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Mid-Sussex Citizen
Fascinating musical fare.
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Pizzicato (German)

An outstanding review from the German publication
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MU Magazine
Recommended.
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Ensemble

Eine in samtener Mehrkanalräumlichkeit - die Klarinette ist geschwisterlich in den Streicherklang eingebettet-wunderschöne und enentbehrliche Aufnahme!
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Ensemble

this is a beautiful and indispensable recording
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Fanfare US
Everything about this reading is so beautifully shaded and perfectly balanced ...
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Gramophone
A fascinating and attractive performance
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Clarinet & Saxophone
An interesting and thrilling album.
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MusicWeb
"This is a challenging disc for all the right reasons..."
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BBC Music Magazine

Five out of five for both performance and sound from the BBC Music Magazine
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The Herald

...so creamy you will melt away.
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International Record Review
A historically informed performance with a remarkable range of colours. Recommended.
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Audiophile Audition
'This music pulses with the ferment of eternal youth.'
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Atlanta Audio Society
A "vibrant" recording
more >> A new review from the Atlanta Audio Society for CKD 278: "Brahms Clarinet Quintet" by Lesley Schatzberger and the Fitzwilliam Quartet. From our friends in Glasgow, Linn Records comes a gorgeous new offering that shows just what multichannel SACD was developed to do. Here, clarinetist Lesley Schatzberger performs with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in a rich program that begins with Brahms’ great Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op.115, followed by Mozart’s Quintet Movement in B-flat, Alexander Glazunov’s Reverie Orientale, Op.14/2 and an attractive new piece by William Sweeney.Though classical listeners on this side of the Atlantic may not be aware of it, the Fitzwilliam has long been recognized as one of the world’s premier string quartets. Never have they sounded better than in the Brahms Quintet. The multichannel recording really captures their ideal blend in this work, both in the vibrant, strongly underscored lines and the delicate wisps of melodies that seem to trail off into the mist, with Ms. Schatzberger’s full-bodied clarinet weaving its way between the string lines, producing moments of true enchantment that will linger in the memory for a long time after hearing them. Forget about the traditional critical soft soap about the prevailing “autumnal” mood of this work. It’s true, up to a point – but then we have a moment of intensely charged drama in the second variation of the Adagio that Wagner himself might have envied. Mozart’s Quartet Movement, listed as Anh. 91 in the Köchel catalog, is a bit of a mystery, as it breaks off in mid-measure at the end of the manuscript. The modern-day completion by Duncan Druce is plausible, witty, and persuasive, leading one to wonder why Mozart never incorporated it into a finished work. Glazunov’s Reverie Orientale is an exotic piece, its spell-binding melismas steeped in the “orientalism” that was then the rage. For the composer’s Russian contemporaries, that meant the music of the Caucasus tribes, rather than the Far East. It is a pure delight, the more so for being so unfamiliar.The Sweeney piece is entitled An Og-Mhadainn (The Young Morning). The Gaelic is somewhat misleading as this is purely a mood piece, with no national or historical associations. Written for basset clarinet, it is both ingenious and charming, being a set of variations on a melodic idea that provides its own atmospheric accompaniment in the bass. So clearly defined are Ms. Schatzberger’s registers that it seems as if she were playing two separate instruments, an impossibility made plausible. -------------------------------------