Thorsten Johanns – Josef Labor: Clarinet Quintets & Trios (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:12:11 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CapriccioNR
The loss of one sense, it is said, makes the others keener. What the concert pianist, organist and composer Josef Labor lost in terms of vision when smallpox left him blind at the age of three must have been compensated for by gains in aural acuity. Although generally speaking a Brahmsian (and a friend of the composer), Labor wrote in an original style that was informed by his knowledge of and love for early music. As a piano teacher, he taught Arnold Schoenberg, Alma Schindler and Paul Wittgenstein. The connection to the Wittgenstein family explains his many works for piano left hand, including the two clarinet trios on this programme (the clarinet was Ludwig Wittgenstein’s instrument) which are coupled with his quintet for clarinet, strings and piano, and the quintet for wind instruments and piano.
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Aris Quartett, Thorsten Johanns – Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 51 No. 1 & Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:10:46 minutes | 697 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Genuin
Following two albums featuring Schubert, Shostakovich, and Beethoven, the Aris Quartet, one of the leading award-winning chamber music ensembles of recent years, has put Johannes Brahms on the program of its third Genuin-Aufnahme. Included are two key works of the chamber music literature of the 19th century: the String Quartet in C minor, dating from the early period of maturity, is characterized by how the composer dealt with personal losses and how he overcame great doubts. The Clarinet Quintet is one of Brahms’ last works ever. A swan song to his oeuvre, perhaps even to Romanticism in general. Enchantingly beautiful playing by a magnificent ensemble!
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