Brahms: Clarinet Quintet; String Quartet No. 2 (2013)

Brahms' Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, is among the masterpieces of his last years, suffused with deep nostalgia and achieving as keen a balance of intellect and emotion as anything else Brahms ever wrote. Consider the beginning of the first movement, where the most gentle whispering of memory are combined with an incredibly intricate balance between B minor and D major that is never really resolved over the course of the movement. On top of this is the balance between the clarinetist and the string quartet, which ... Read More

Brahms' Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, is among the masterpieces of his last years, suffused with deep nostalgia and achieving as keen a balance of intellect and emotion as anything else Brahms ever wrote. Consider the beginning of the first movement, where the most gentle whispering of memory are combined with an incredibly intricate balance between B minor and D major that is never really resolved over the course of the movement. On top of this is the balance between the clarinetist and the string quartet, which may be combined in several ways with the work's other intricacies. Clarinetist Sharon Kam's performance is strikingly quiet: she generally submerges the clarinet in the string quartet texture, letting it emerge in the extremely subtle transitions that are among the work's hallmarks. Overall, the performance is shadowy, quietly sad, and extremely evocative. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it's lovely, and the work is one of those that can stand up to multiple approaches. The... Read Less