It’s a CD of beloved lyrical music by Gustav Jenner, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Carl Maria von Weber.
I discovered the Jenner sonata only a few years ago and was bewildered that it had taken me that long to learn about it. It’s a beautiful piece, and anyone who loves the music of Brahms will love the Jenner. He was Brahms’ only longterm formal student and his music is very much in Brahms’ language.
Then there are the Schumanns. The Romances by Clara Schumann are well known exquisite gems on the violin, but I wondered how they might sing on a wind instrument. I felt like I found my voice on them and I hope you enjoy their delivery on the clarinet.
The lush Robert Schumann Romances are best known as repertoire for the oboe, but they lie extremely well on the clarinet, too. The autumnal quality of the A clarinet is perfect for their bittersweetness.
Finally, the Grand Duo Concertino by Carl Maria von Weber is a real show piece for both piano and clarinet. I’ve always loved this piece and always dreamed about recording it. To me, it’s a miniature opera itself. The first movement is exuberant and has some great comic moments- even the sense of a singer coming in early to start. The second movement is a bit of a tragic aria, dark, stormy, broody. Finally the last movement is full of virtuosic playfulness, even a section that almost foreshadows a Wagerian soprano. The movement finishes in a joyful frenzy of both players dipping and darting around in cascades of scales, back in the friendly home key of E flat major.
