Search - Brahms, Klocker, Tanski :: Clarinet Sonatas / 4 Serious Songs (Piano Arr.)

On first hearing this disc, one may be put off by the sound of the instruments. The piano's somewhat curdled upper octave and grumbly low end, and the clarinet's shallow tone and out-of-tune notes above and below the break, sound suspicious to say the least. But read the fine print: the artists used a 1901 Steinway D and a vintage-1905 German clarinet, i.e., this is Brahms on period instruments. Knowing that, one can listen with unalloyed pleasure, struck by the consummate mastery Brahms showed in these end-of-the-line works, and by the feeling that emerges in such a surprising way, as though the composer had finally reached the point where he could confide his innermost regrets and longings to the listener. Klöcker and Tanski serve the music well, in performances of seamless continuity and grace. --Ted Libbey