Brahms - Clarinet Sonata 1 [Aomori/ Pierce]
A new disc of Brahms Clarinet Sonatas that i'm playing for the first time, this was my Sunday walk to Church, and the cherry blossoms are starting to appear on the trees, as the opposite, this disc represents the Autumn of Brahms's life, when he got interest in the clarinet, and the picture on the front seems to suggest the same, they're beautiful works, perfect for a Sunday morning stroll through the park and lanes.
Hideaki Aomori is i take it Japanese, he looks fairly young, and is otherwise unknown to me, i found this lovely disc on Ebay, it's from an independent record label called MSR Classics, an American label, Aomori recorded this disc in 2008, the front cover features a photograph of a wooded path, lovely yellow greens, sunlight dappling through the trees, a bed of leaves underfoot, wonderfully evocative.
When i started to play this disc, i found Aomori's playing fairly cool [meaning not with red hot passion], a fairly laid back style, not pushing the boundaries, also the clarinet is caught in a fairly narrow stereo view, too much treble and not enough bloom warmth, however the piano seems to be in a different acoustic, nice rumbling bass, and a wider stereo perspective, but not enough treble!, but certainly as the disc continued, i felt that this was less of an issue, i love the First Clarinet Sonata the most, and the work got better the longer i heard it, so i was thrilled by the time the last movement was played, Brahms marks it as Vivace, the English equivalent is of course vivacious!, a nice word, and very apt here, it's a dashing finale, the clarinet bubbles away with staccato figures at the beginning [0:04-0:43],
Here's the fourth movement Vivace being played on YouTube.
