Various Composers - Clarinet Brava [Lee/ Shrut]
I love these Clarinet Recitals, and i have a certain affinity for the clarinet too, it's a wonderful instrument, so expressive and creamy, and Seunghee Lee chooses a good programme, slipping in some rarities, and choosing some different works, some short, some long, and giving us 61 minutes of music.
Seunghee Lee is South Korean, but emigrated to the United States, this is her debut disc, she recorded this in 1999, and her next disc [which i believe is being recorded] is long overdue, the photography is by Joe Cognigni, a charming portrait of Seunghee Lee with her clarinet in hand, a black and white shot, fairly soft focus, i really like it a lot.
Of all the wonderful pieces on this disc, i'm always drawn to the opening piece, Lovreglio's La Traviata Fantasy, playing themes from Verdi's Opera, all the famous bits weaved into a superb whole, it's certainly a virtuoso showpiece, testing the Clarinettist in all sorts of directions,
Here's Ben Westlake performing Lovreglio's La Traviata Fantasy on YouTube, part one and part two.
