This recording of the Brahms Op. 114 Clarinet Trio has some good things going for it. The ensemble between the three musicians is generally very good, and each of the three artists seems to present a unified idea of the musical product they're trying to produce. Intonation is also quite solid, even when the clarinet and cello are performing in unison or octaves. It's also an SACD, and connoisseurs of that format will certainly appreciate having the work available to them with the enhanced fidelity that SACD offers. However, ...
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This recording of the Brahms Op. 114 Clarinet Trio has some good things going for it. The ensemble between the three musicians is generally very good, and each of the three artists seems to present a unified idea of the musical product they're trying to produce. Intonation is also quite solid, even when the clarinet and cello are performing in unison or octaves. It's also an SACD, and connoisseurs of that format will certainly appreciate having the work available to them with the enhanced fidelity that SACD offers. However, even this increased sound quality is not enough to overcome the two major shortcomings of this particular recording. The first problem is balance. This is a notoriously difficult piece for cellists because they are up against two instruments that individually could cover their sound many times over. Cellist Daniel Raclot doesn't quite get the job done; his sound in tutti forte passages is often hopelessly lost, and in the beautiful, soaring, lyrical lines that Brahms gave the cello,...
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