Composer: Max Bruch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Michael Collins, Isabelle van Keulen, Michael McHale, Wigmore Soloists
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2535
Release: 2022
Size: 2.19 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Mozart: Clarinet Trio in E flat major, K498 “Kegelstatt-Trio”
01. I. Andante
02. II. Menuetto
03. III. Allegretto
Schumann: Märchenerzählungen for Clarinet, Viola & Piano, Op. 132
04. I. Lebhaft, nicht zu schnell
05. II. Lebhaft und sehr markirt
06. III. Ruhiges Tempo, mit zartem Ausdruck
07. IV. Lebhaft, sehr markirt
Bruch: Eight Pieces for clarinet, viola and piano, Op. 83
08. No. 5. Rumänische Melodie
09. No. 6. Nachtgesang
10. No. 7. Allegro vivace, ma non troppo
11. No. 8, Moderato
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat: Concert Suite
12. I. Introduction. Marche du soldat
13. II. Marche royale
14. III. Petit concert
15. IV. Trois danses. Tango – Valse – Ragtime
16. V. Danse du diable
As core members of the ensemble Wigmore Soloists, Michael Collins, Isabelle van Keulen and Michael McHale present four works for clarinet trio composed over a period of some 130 years.
Mozart’s Kegelstatt-Trio was long believed to have been composed during a game of bowling. The writing is reminiscent of a conversation between three friends in which contrasts are not excluded: we hear affection, divergences and even disagreements. This atmosphere of friendly, playful, and sometimes very intimate exchange also pervades Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen. While its spirited conviviality might give the impression that this work was the product of idyllic times, it was actually composed during Schumann’s last full year of sanity before his final mental collapse in 1854.
There is a similar atmosphere of warm intimacy in Max Bruch’s Eight Pieces, written in 1910. Four of them are presented here, giving not a single hint of the approaching First World War. Based on a Russian folk tale, Stravinsky’s stage work L’Histoire du soldat may be less good-natured than the preceding works. But the music is wonderfully entertaining, borrowing from various genres, including jazz. The composer’s trio version consist of five movements and has deservedly become his most frequently performed chamber composition.