Search - Ned Rothenberg :: Quintet for Clarinet & Strings

Brilliant performance of a rich new chamber music combinatio

H. Paul Moon | Washington, DC | 05/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MIVOS quartet sounds tight, proficient and in-the-moment for this great new work by Rothenberg. The recording is finely tuned to the interesting sonorities that flow from this unique combination of clarinet and string quartet, something I had never heard before. (All that comes to mind for me, in contemporary music, is Bela Bartok's "Contrasts" written for none other than Benny Goodman - though that is similarly scored for a chamber ensemble of clarinet, violin and piano, compared to clarinet with string quartet here.) The disc is from John Zorn's ambitious Tzadik label, in good company with some of the finest contemporary music being recorded today. Highly recommended."