BaL 21.10.23 - Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor

[Barbirollians]

I am amazed to realise I do not have a recording of this work - unless I have a BBCMM in the attic !

[Pulcinella]

I am amazed to realise I do not have a recording of this work - unless I have a BBCMM in the attic !

Don't go climbing the stairs: see my post which Alison quoted just below yours. There ISN'T a BBC MM release.

[Barbirollians]

Oh I see - I find Loges rather annoying . I didn't get much from what i felt was a pretty unfocused BAL. I liked the Thea King extract that she didn't.

[Barbirollians]

Realised that I do know the music as I have the viola version with Lawrence Power.

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh I see - I find Loges rather annoying . I didn't get much from what i felt was a pretty unfocused BAL. I liked the Thea King extract that she didn't.

I’m the complete opposite. I’ve said before that NL is by some distance my favourite RR/BAL contributor and this outing (just caught up with it) did nothing to dim that regard. I found it a very illuminating survey of a work I already knew quite well and love dearly - plus I find NL vocally an ideal broadcaster, with a nice balance of scholarship and humour.

I already have the Stoltzman/Ax/Ma version. It’s the Manasse/Nakamatsu/Greensmith I shall be investigating further.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I’m the complete opposite. I’ve said before that NL is by some distance my favourite RR/BAL contributor and this outing (just caught up with it) did nothing to dim that regard. I found it a very illuminating survey of a work I already knew quite well and love dearly - plus I find NL vocally an ideal broadcaster, with a nice balance of scholarship and humour.

I already have the Stoltzman/Ax/Ma version. It’s the Manasse/Nakamatsu/Greensmith I shall be investigating further.

Yes an exemplary BAL with some very well chosen extracts.

[silvestrione]

Yes an exemplary BAL with some very well chosen extracts.

Absolutely. Confident and relaxed, but shrewd and knowledgeable.

[Barbirollians]

To each their own . I find her smug , Her response to the Brahms symphonies in the Bruno Walter box I found insufferably self important.

[gurnemanz]

She has very good German pronunciation.

[smittims]

By coincidence Brahms' clarinet trio had a fine performance in TTN at 4 am. (BST) today . I reflected that , although Brahms was born only six years after Beethoven's death, their clarinet trios were written nearly a century apart.

[richardfinegold]

By coincidence Brahms' clarinet trio had a fine performance in TTN at 4 am. (BST) today . I reflected that , although Brahms was born only six years after Beethoven's death, their clarinet trios were written nearly a century apart.

Yes, given the disparity in their dates, it is interesting to observe that Brahms felt so intimidated by Beethoven’s presence. There is the famous quote which I can’t recall in its entirety about “you don’t realize what it is like to have him standing over your shoulder” as a reason why Brahms couldn’t finish his First Symphony until he was 40. I suppose it might have something to do with much of LvB’s music not being appreciated until a generation or so after his demise.
Also, Brahms was a Composer who very much felt that the past was still with us. He studied Renaissance and Baroque music extensively and was editing many Schubert scores that were coming to light decades after their creation

[smittims]

After their first meeting, Robert Schumann described Brahms as 'a genius' and boomed him , maybe in print too, as Beethoven's successor.

[CallMePaul]

She has very good German pronunciation.

She is based in Germany so will need fluent German!

[Sir Velo]

I have to confess to being slightly disappointed by this BAL. There is a thin line between friendly conversation and inconsequential natter and I think on this occasion it was a line which was breached too often for unadulterated pleasure. However, my main "beef" was with the curt dismissal of period instruments in this repertoire. Natasha Loges seemed to equate historically informed performance practice with those recordings which sounded like they were recorded in Brahms' day. For some reason, only the early 90s Hacker et al performance was considered, while the superior 2019 performance by Marie Ross and colleagues on actual instruments from the 1870s was completely overlooked, despite it being readily available and in magnificent sound. The instruments on this recording are an absolute joy: pianist Petra Somlai performs on an 1875 New York Steinway.to boot, while Ross plays with great sensitivity on a superbly creamy instrument which Muhlfeld would surely have loved.

[MickyD]

I have to confess to being slightly disappointed by this BAL. There is a thin line between friendly conversation and inconsequential natter and I think on this occasion it was a line which was breached too often for unadulterated pleasure. However, my main "beef" was with the curt dismissal of period instruments in this repertoire. Natasha Loges seemed to equate historically informed performance practice with those recordings which sounded like they were recorded in Brahms' day. For some reason, only the early 90s Hacker et al performance was considered, while the superior 2019 performance by Marie Ross and colleagues on actual instruments from the 1870s was completely overlooked, despite it being readily available and in magnificent sound. The instruments on this recording are an absolute joy: pianist Petra Somlai performs on an 1875 New York Steinway.to boot, while Ross plays with great sensitivity on a superbly creamy instrument which Muhlfeld would surely have loved.

Thank you for that info, I didn't know about that later recording, I will make a note of it.