Not to denigrate his songs or orchestral works, but Brahms’ chamber
music is, with a few exceptions, his most pleasing and most admired
output. I’d never pick a fight with anyone questioning whether
the string quartets or op.120 sonatas really belong in the Parthenon
of chamber music. But the String Sextets, the Quintets (Clarinet,
Piano, String), the Piano Quartets, the Trios (Clarinet, Piano,
Horn), and the Cello and Violin Sonatas are many musicians’ most
appreciated daily bread and easily accessible to casual listeners
alike. You’d have to be a pretty hardened Brahms-hater to feel,
much less think otherwise.
And
because it’s all so terrific, it only makes sense to offer it
all in one convenient box. Deutsche Grammophon has done so,
as part of their complete Brahms Edition. A year later, or so,
Philips followed suit with a box of Brahms’ complete chamber
music of their own. Both were setting very high standards, both
are – inexplicably – out of print right now. In 2003 Brilliant
assembled a collection of their own, which is now also available
as part of their 60 CD complete Brahms set.
Now
Hyperion has entered the fray, and it is most welcome, indeed.
On twelve well filled discs, Hyperion gives us a survey of Brahms’
chamber music of consistent high quality – possibly unmatched
by any of the competition. Many included performances are not
just good, but favorites and among the finest available. There
are no particular weak spots and the sound quality of these
modern recordings - the oldest is from 1983 - is as high as
we have come to expect from the label.
The
Raphael Ensemble’s String Sextets (including Roger Tapping)
and Quintets would do any company’s catalogue proud. There’s
nothing that might be construed as ‘stereotypically British’ here.
And although all but two members have changed from the 1988 recording
of the Sextets to the 1995 recording of the Quintets (both
engineered by Tony Faulkner), the playing is of a seamlessly high
quality: glorious, with precision, and most importantly: with
lots of heart. Other recordings (Sextets: ASMF Chamber Ensemble
[on Chandos] and Leipzig String Quartet++ [MDG], Quintets: Hagen
Quartet with Gérard Caussé [DG] and Leipzig String Quartet+ [MDG])
might match, but none surpass the Raphael’s versions.
When
it comes to Brahms’ String Quartets, I don’t generally
enthuse - “undisputed master of composing without ideas”
(H.Wolf) and such… - and I don’t here, either. But having heard
it so often lately – live and on CD – I’m more and more getting
used to them. The New Budapest Quartet, which Hyperion chose
to include in their entirety - instead of patching with their
brand new Takács Quartet recording - aren’t bad at all.
I
know precious little about András Kiss, Ferenc Balogh, László
Barsony, and Károly Botvay, except some of their recordings on
Hyperion and Marco Polo (e.g. Bartók, Borodin, Beethoven
and lots of Spohr – most of them re-issued on the mid-price Dyad
and Helios sub-labels). In these Brahms works, they go
well beyond the ‘capable’ and make engaging, very Central European
music out of it, downplaying the seriousness and without belaboring
any phrase or musical point too long. This isn’t replacing my
first choice Alban Berg Quartet (EMI) recording for all three
quartets, or the Mandelring Quartet in op. 51, but it pleases
plenty. Were I to listen through this whole box again, as I have
a few times already, I’d never think of bothering to skip these
renditions in favor of others. For one, I’d not want to miss their
Piano Quintet, which they play with Piers Lane.
Nostalgia
has me consider stormy Leon Fleisher and the Juilliard Quartet
(Sony via Arkiv) for the Quintet; I shall always cherish
the smooth, sometimes detailed, sometimes bashful Quartetto Italiano
with Maurizio Pollini (DG Originals), nor let the exacting, superbly
sonorous, occasionally strident Hagen Quartett with Paul Gulda
gather dust (DG via Arkiv). Splashier recent releases like said
Takács with Stephen Hough (too nervous) or Emerson with Fleisher
(too ungainly the execution of the piano part) can’t touch Lane
and Budapest.
Among
the Piano Quartets, the first – op.25 in g-minor – is by
far the most popular. A popularity exemplified (and maybe, partly
caused) by Arnold Schoenberg’s oft recorded orchestration of this
substantial, 40 minute long work; coincidentally, cpo has
just issued a new recording thereof – coupled with
Luciano Berio’s orchestra arrangement of the clarinet sonata op.120/1.
A couple of years ago an all-star cast of Martha Argerich, Gidon
Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, and Mischa Maisky was assembled to record
op.25 for DG. Fortunately the four full-blooded musicians celebrated
Brahms, not their egos. The result is a brilliant and fiery reading
that might never be surpassed in that regard.
While
theirs and the Amadeus Quartet’s recording with Emil Gilels
- another gem in the DG catalog - sound a little like the Little
Symphony That Couldn’t (many of Brahms’ chamber works started
out intended to be orchestral works), there are more chamber-music
like approaches, too. For example the Trio Wanderer with violist
Christophe Gaugué (HMU), or the Beaux Arts
Trio who are at their best here with violist Walter Trampler (Philips
or Pentatone). The players around Isabelle Faust and Derek Han
(for Brilliant Classics) show all their promise in a fleet reading
not just of the first but of all three Quartets. That’s stiff
competition for the players on the Hyperion set, the Leopold String
Quartet (Marianne Thorsen, Lawrence Power, and Kate Gould) who
perform with that most nimble-fingered of all pianists, Marc-André
Hamelin. And for a recording of all three Quartets, their strongest
competition might not be the Beaux Arts or Wanderer Trio, but
the Piano Quartet “Domus” on a budget Virgin re-issue.
Although
I’ve cherished the Domus recording for many years now, I’ve
never bothered to look up (or remember) its members. What a
surprise then – or rather: how perfectly logical – to find that
Domus is essentially the expanded Florestan Trio with Susan
Tomes (piano) and Richard Lester (cello), violist Timothy Boulton
and, instead of Anthony Marwood, the genial duo partner of Tomes’,
Krysia Osostowicz, on violin. Before disbanding, Domus had also
been taken onto Hyperion’s artists roster.
Hamelin’s
slightly drier and more enunciated playing and the closer recording
make the Leopold String Trio’s performances more straight-faced
and less reverberant than the modestly indulgent Domus. The
chugging cello line of the op.25 second movement sounds so refined
with the Leopold’s Ms. Gould, she could pass as playing the
viola. And while the Leopold/Hamelin combination sounds incredibly
and impressively fast in the concluding Rondo alla Zingarese,
there’s not the sense of a turbulent, hair-down execution as
with Domus - much less Argerich and co. For those in favor of
leaner, longer lines in Brahms, the immaculate and civilized
Leopold/Hamelin combination - exploring technical extremes without
ever sounding challenged - might be the preferred version. Whatever
the case, few would likely complain if these were their only
versions of the Quartets.
There
is little in the repertoire where the Florestan Trio would not
be my first choice – and that goes for the Brahms Piano Trios
as well. Without giving in to the temptation of romantic indulgence,
this is superbly played, detailed, and compelling chamber music-making.
It ranks right up there with the Beaux Arts Trio who can
be a bit more generous and warmer - more ‘continental European’,
if you wish - but don’t play quite as impeccably.
Their
Horn Trio with Stephen Sterling has all the same qualities,
and especially the precision of the musicians. The exceptional
Hyperion recording pays dividends here. Susan Tomes’ pianism is
just the right mix between assertive and delicate – giving it,
apart from the much superior sound, an edge over the 1957 Dennis
Brain/Max Salpeter/Cyril Preedy collaboration (BBC Legends).
The horn never dominates Anthony Marwood’s violin (as it does
with Tuckwell/Perlman/Ashkenazy – Decca, 1968). Of the versions
I know, only MDG’s 1995 recording is as well engineered. An interesting
comparison would have been the new Harmonia Mundi release with
Theunis Van der Zwart playing the work on
the Waldhorn (as intended by Brahms) together with his
colleagues Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov; alas it just
came out this October and I haven’t gotten my ears on it, yet.
There
are many favorites in the Clarinet Trio. I’ve not yet heard
the most recent recording with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson
Trio and Ricardo Morales (whose Brahms Clarinet
Quintet much impressed me at the National Academy of Sciences
in DC, over four years ago) on Koch which came out last month.
But the 2005 BIS release of Martin Fröst (with Roland Pöntinen and Torleif Thedéen) was predictably excellent.
It’s not unlike Richard Hosford’s with the Florestan Trio on these
Hyperion discs: flawlessly played with extraordinary command
over the instruments and superbly balanced by the engineers. The
BIS sound is caught even more closely and naturally (warts – if
that’s what you want to call key-clicking and breathing noises
– and all), and Fröst manages more hushed pianissimo phrases.
Neither, however, have the beautiful long, unhurried lines that
Karl Leister manages – either in his 1968 recording on DG (with
Christoph Eschenbach and Georg Donderer) or on Nimbus (just re-issued
on Brilliant Classics) with Berlin Philharmonic colleagues Ferenc
Bognár and Wolfgang Boettcher. Hyperion would have had another
option for this set, too: Thea King with Clifford Benson and
Karine Georgian (Hyperion CDA66107) – who deliver
a performance rivaled in warmth only by Stoltzman/Ax/Ma on the
classic Sony recording. But even amid an embarrassment of choices,
Hosford/Florestan stand their ground proudly and give little reason
why their version shouldn’t be anyone’s first choice.
For those who cherish Dame Thea King, good news comes with the Clarinet
Quintet and the Clarinet Sonatas. The Gabrieli String
Quartet and Mme. King deliver a splendid, unified performance.
Instead of string quartet and a dominating quartet, they are five
equal players where King’s warm clarinet is just one of five voices.
Especially in the first movement it’s surprisingly humble, bordering
self-effacing – fans of extroverted playing will have to look
elsewhere. The competition is similar to the above: Stoltzman
with the Tokyo Quartet (RCA), (better than the Tokyo
Quartet with Joan Enric Lluna on Harmonia Mundi), one of the many
Leister recordings (on DG with the Amadeus Quartet, on Brilliant
with the Brandis, or – perhaps most compelling – with the Vermeer
Quartet on Orfeo). Add to that Sabine Meyer with the ABQ (EMI),
Herbert Stähr and the Berlin Philharmonic
Octet members (Philips) and you have half a dozen
alternatives that (nearly) reach the heights of King & Co
who compare well even against my current favorite – Paul Meyer
and the Capuçon brothers on Virgin (where
it is the filler to a mildly disappointing Brahms double concerto).
King is every bit as good in the Sonatas (still available on a
low-mid priced Helios CD), and the competition largely the same:
Stoltzman/Goode (RCA), Fröst/Pontinen (BIS), Leister/Oppitz (Orfeo)
and especially a newcomer from Harmonia Mundi USA with Jon Manasse
and Jon Nakamatsu. King’s tone is beautiful, accurate – like Manasse’s
– but more clear, more assertive than the latter’s. Turn it around
and you have Manasse with a soft (yet haze-free), round tone the
like of which I have rarely heard. Together with the similarly
inclined Jon Nakamatsu, he emphasizes a bit more than King: Slow
and moderate movements are a bit slower, fast, lively movements
a bit faster. Both recordings are excellently recorded and well
balanced – Thea King’s clarinet slightly ‘behind’ the piano, Manasse’s
right on top of it.
Arriving at the Cello Sonatas I am inclined to say: “finally”
a recording where direct comparison leaves room for critical remarks.
Steven Isserlis’s first recording for Hyperion – with Peter Evans
– is included here, and while they are relatively vigorous performances
- often Isserlis is too bland, too careful for me - in the usual
splendid sound, I miss the assertive glory of Rostropovich/Serkin (DG),
or the warm musicality and glow of Starker/Sebők (my favorite
recording – Mercury), or the virtuosity put to such good use in
the first Ma/Ax recording (1984 RCA, not 1991 Sony). Steven Isserlis
didn’t have the Feuermann Stradivarius cello in his hands when
he made this recording in 1984 (it belonged to Aldo Pariso until
1996), which is probably why he remade them with Steven Hough
some twenty years later. Longer cello lines, a more subdued -
not to say monotonous - air, better, more individual, independent
pianism, and a still richer sound mark the latter recording -
an improvement only in some ways.
The matter is different with the three Violin Sonatas: Krysia
Osostowicz and Susan Tomes may offer the least name recognition
among the artists on this box-set, but their Violin Sonatas (1990)
have been my beloved favorite ever since I bought them on Hyperion’s
Helios sub-label. I simply love their touching and melodious way
with the music. No pair of musicians that I’ve heard plays these
works so naturally, with such musical unobtrusiveness, as they
do – which is why I favor them over all the competition that aims
more for virtuosity and pronounced dynamics. Listening to it is
like witnessing chamber music in the moment of being created,
rather than ‘interpreted’. Absolute control over their instruments
is a given, anyway, with these artists. The F-A-E Scherzo in c-minor
has been tacked on for the sake of completism – Mme. Osostowicz
recorded it with Simon Crawford-Phillips just this May 2008. Other
favorites of mine, like Suk/Katchen
(Decca), Dumay/Pires (DG), and Capuçon/Angelich
(Virgin), bring me great joy, too. But if I had to keep one, it’d
be Osostowicz/Tomes.
I approached the final disc – the viola transcriptions of the
op.120 sonatas and the clarinet trio – with some trepidation.
Not my favorite works to begin with, and less so with the viola.
But at least the viola-bias is an attitude attained from relatively
limited, not always pleasurable, exposure. At the ARD competition
Sergey Malov played op.120/1 very well, indeed – hearing Lawrence
Dutton (of Emerson Quartet fame) in both works was less enjoyable
a few years back. Fortunately Lawrence Power - violist of the
Nash Ensemble and the Leopold Trio - is more than
up to the challenge and manages dark, unfussy readings that I
found not just bearable but even enjoyable. My memories of Zukerman/Barenboim
on DG are vague, but negative; of Shlomo Mintz/Itamar
Golan (Avie) vaguely neutral, of Kim Kashkashian with Robert Levin
a rare case of delight (ECM). Maxim Rysanov (with Katya Apekisheva)
on Onyx isn’t coming out in the US until November 2008, but that
disc will include the viola transcriptions of the Horn Trio and
the first Violin Sonata, and might be interesting for anyone looking
specifically for those works. While it would not be my first choice bought individually,
Power with Simon Crawford Phillips and cellist Timothy Hugh leave no complaints,
ending this twelve-disc set on a high point (this disc was individually
reviewed on MusicWeb by Michael Cookson).
Looked
at - and listened to - as a set, the merits are much higher,
still, than “leaves no complaints”. Even if the DG and Philips
sets were still available - which they currently are not - they
wouldn’t be a threat to Hyperion’s – merely competition. DG
has some spectacular highlights with the Rostropovich/Serkin
Cello Suites and the Italiano/Abbado Piano Quintet. But even
DG has stronger performances of some of the other works in their
own catalog that are not included on the compilation: The Hagen
Quartett with Gérard Caussé in the String Quintets and Emil
Gilels with the Amadeus Quartet (or Argerich ‘with friends’)
in the First Piano Quartet, for example. Philips has the Beaux
Arts Trio, who were caught at the height of their powers and
are particularly effective in the Piano Quartets with violist
Walter Trampler. The Cello Sonatas with Sebok and Starker are
my – emotional - favorite, anyway, and Sebők/Grumiaux are
fine in the Violin Sonatas. But the clarinet works and the String
Quartets - the Quartetto Italiano on auto-pilot - are not top
drawer.
The Hyperion box’s
less than brilliant spot - weakness would be too strong a word
- is probably the disc with the Cello Sonatas. Perhaps a missed
opportunity in not having been generous and thrown in Isserlis’
new recording with Stephen Hough … though, in all honesty, even
then I would still recommend supplementing your collection with
either “Slava” or Starker. Brilliant Classics has a box out (see
review), and it’s as complete as Hyperion’s. It happens to
be one of the strong points of their complete Brahms box (which
runs about the price of the Hyperion Chamber Works) and should
not be dismissed. But Hyperion’s excellent interpretations are
added by extraordinary production value – not the least the exceptionally
well engineered recordings that offer a continuity of great sound
that Brilliant’s pick-and-patch collection can’t match. Differences
individual tastes will inform the choice between the sets – but
with at least a dozen performances that are my favorites even
on individual discs, the Hyperion set is my pick among the bunch.
Jens F. Laurson
Full Track-listing
CD1
String Sextet No 1 in B flat major, Op 18
1 Movement 1: Allegro ma non troppo [10'50]
2 Movement 2: Andante, ma moderato [10'04]
3 Movement 3: Scherzo. Allegro molto [2'51]
4 Movement 4: Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso
[10'18]
The Raphael Ensemble
String Sextet No 2 in G major, Op 36
5 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [14'39]
6 Movement 2: Scherzo. Allegro non troppo [7'11]
7 Movement 3: Poco adagio [9'28]
8 Movement 4: Poco allegro [8'32]
The Raphael Ensemble
CD2
String Quintet No 1 in F major, Op 88
1 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo ma con brio
[11'45]
2 Movement 2: Grave ed appassionato – Allegretto
vivace – Tempo I – Presto – Tempo I [11'39]
3 Movement 3: Allegro energico – Presto [4'58]
The Raphael Ensemble
String Quintet No 2 in G major, Op 111
4 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo ma con brio
[12'42]
5 Movement 2: Adagio [6'16]
6 Movement 3: Un poco allegretto [5'33]
7 Movement 4: Vivace ma non troppo presto – Animato
[5'06]
The Raphael Ensemble
CD3
String Quartet in C minor, Op 51 No 1
1 Movement 1: Allegro [11'08]
2 Movement 2: Romanze. Poco adagio [7'17]
3 Movement 3: Allegretto molto moderato e comodo
– Un poco piů animato [8'50]
4 Movement 4: Allegro [6'05]
New Budapest Quartet
String Quartet in A minor, Op 51 No 2
5 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [12'28]
6 Movement 2: Andante moderato [9'20]
7 Movement 3: Quasi menuetto, moderato – Allegro
vivace [5'02]
8 Movement 4: Allegro non assai [6'43]
New Budapest Quartet
CD4
String Quartet in B flat major, Op 67
1 Movement 1: Vivace [9'10]
2 Movement 2: Andante [7'24]
3 Movement 3: Agitato, Allegretto non troppo
[7'55]
4 Movement 4: Poco allegretto con variazioni
[10'36]
New Budapest Quartet
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34
5 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [15'42]
6 Movement 2: Andante, un poco adagio [8'54]
7 Movement 3: Scherzo. Allegro [7'40]
8 Movement 4: Poco sostenuto – Allegro non troppo
– Presto non troppo [10'43]
Piers Lane (piano), New Budapest Quartet
CD5
Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor, Op 25
1 Movement 1: Allegro [13'53]
2 Movement 2: Intermezzo. Allegro ma non troppo
– Trio. Animato [7'58]
3 Movement 3: Andante con moto [9'45]
4 Movement 4: Rondo alla Zingarese. Presto [8'05]
Marc-André Hamelin (piano), Leopold String Trio
Piano Quartet No 3 in C minor, Op 60
5 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [10'56]
6 Movement 2: Scherzo. Allegro [4'12]
7 Movement 3: Andante [9'21]
8 Movement 4: Finale. Allegro comodo [10'24]
Marc-André Hamelin (piano), Leopold String Trio
CD6
Piano Quartet No 2 in A major, Op 26
1 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [16'25]
2 Movement 2: Poco adagio [12'28]
3 Movement 3: Scherzo. Poco allegro – Trio [11'04]
4 Movement 4: Finale. Allegro [10'10]
Marc-André Hamelin (piano), Leopold String Trio
CD7
Trio in B major for piano, violin and cello,
Op 8
1 Movement 1: Allegro con brio [14'51]
2 Movement 2: Scherzo. Allegro molto [6'18]
3 Movement 3: Adagio [8'03]
4 Movement 4: Allegro [6'28]
The Florestan Trio
Trio in E flat major for piano, violin and
horn, Op 40
5 Movement 1: Andante – Poco piů animato [7'39]
6 Movement 2: Scherzo. Allegro [6'39]
7 Movement 3: Adagio mesto [6'44]
8 Movement 4: Finale. Allegro con brio [6'17]
The Florestan Trio, Stephen Stirling (horn),
Anthony Marwood (violin), Susan Tomes (piano)
CD8
Trio in C major for piano, violin and cello,
Op 87
1 Movement 1: Allegro [9'26]
2 Movement 2: Andante con moto [7'33]
3 Movement 3: Scherzo. Presto [4'23]
4 Movement 4: Finale. Allegro giocoso [5'58]
The Florestan Trio
Trio in C minor for piano, violin and cello,
Op 101
5 Movement 1: Allegro energico [7'07]
6 Movement 2: Presto non assai [3'31]
7 Movement 3: Andante grazioso [4'04]
8 Movement 4: Allegro molto [5'17]
The Florestan Trio
Trio in A minor for piano, clarinet/viola
and cello, Op 114
9 Movement 1: Allegro [8'10]
10 Movement 2: Adagio [8'00]
11 Movement 3: Andantino grazioso [4'34]
12 Movement 4: Allegro [4'35]
The Florestan Trio, Richard Hosford (clarinet),
Richard Lester (cello), Susan Tomes (piano)
CD9
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op 115
1 Movement 1: Allegro [12'53]
2 Movement 2: Adagio [11'56]
3 Movement 3: Andantino – Presto non assai, ma
con sentimento [4'44]
4 Movement 4: Con moto [8'50]
Dame Thea King (clarinet), Gabrieli String Quartet
Sonata in F minor for clarinet/viola and piano,
Op 120 No 1
5 Movement 1: Allegro appassionato [7'35]
6 Movement 2: Andante un poco adagio [4'48]
7 Movement 3: Allegretto grazioso [4'20]
8 Movement 4: Vivace [5'02]
Dame Thea King (clarinet), Clifford Benson (piano)
CD10
Cello Sonata No 1 in E minor, Op 38
1 Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [10'52]
2 Movement 2: Allegretto quasi menuetto [5'45]
3 Movement 3: Allegro [6'13]
Steven Isserlis (cello), Peter Evans (piano)
Cello Sonata No 2 in F major, Op 99
4 Movement 1: Allegro vivace [8'32]
5 Movement 2: Adagio affettuoso [7'05]
6 Movement 3: Allegro passionato [6'46]
7 Movement 4: Allegro molto [4'23]
Steven Isserlis (cello), Peter Evans (piano)
Sonata in E flat major for clarinet/viola
and piano, Op 120 No 2
8 Movement 1: Allegro amabile [8'05]
9 Movement 2: Allegro appassionato [5'12]
10 Movement 3: Andante con moto – Allegro non
troppo [7'24]
Dame Thea King (clarinet), Clifford Benson (piano)
CD11
Violin Sonata No 1 in G major, Op 78
1 Movement 1: Vivace ma non troppo [10'36]
2 Movement 2: Adagio – Piů andante – Adagio come
I [8'01]
3 Movement 3: Allegro molto moderato – Piů moderato
[8'07]
Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Susan Tomes (piano)
Violin Sonata No 2 in A major, Op 100
4 Movement 1: Allegro amabile [8'16]
5 Movement 2: Andante tranquillo – Vivace – Andante
– Vivace di piů – Andante – Vivace [6'25]
6 Movement 3: Allegretto grazioso, quasi Andante
[5'02]
Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Susan Tomes (piano)
Violin Sonata No 3 in D minor, Op 108
7 Movement 1: Allegro [7'56]
8 Movement 2: Adagio [4'52]
9 Movement 3: Un poco presto e con sentimento
[2'43]
10 Movement 4: Presto agitato [5'24]
Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Susan Tomes (piano)
Sonata in A minor 'F-A-E'
11 Movement 3: Scherzo in C minor, WoO2 [5'17]
Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Simon Crawford-Phillips
(piano)
CD12
Sonata in F minor for clarinet/viola and piano,
Op 120 No 1
1 Movement 1: Allegro appassionato [7'43]
2 Movement 2: Andante un poco adagio [4'54]
3 Movement 3: Allegretto grazioso [3'59]
4 Movement 4: Vivace [5'00]
Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips
(piano)
Trio in A minor for piano, clarinet/viola
and cello, Op 114
5 Movement 1: Allegro [7'50]
6 Movement 2: Adagio [7'19]
7 Movement 3: Andantino grazioso [4'15]
8 Movement 4: Allegro [4'20]
Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips
(piano), Tim Hugh (cello)
Sonata in E flat major for clarinet/viola
and piano, Op 120 No 2
9 Movement 1: Allegro amabile [8'12]
10 Movement 2: Allegro appassionato [4'57]
11 Movement 3: Andante con moto – Allegro non
troppo [6'35]
Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips
(piano)
