Weber - Grand Duo Concertant [Stoltzman/ Ax]
The first time i seriously fell in love with this work, was while out for a walk with the Johnson / Back disc on ASV, i've always felt that Weber is a very average Composer, but this is his best work by far, the performance i know the best is Collins / Stott on EMI [also he has an exciting performance with Pletnev on Virgin], this disc is fairly new, and only getting its third outing, not a tremendous amount of music on the disc, less than fifty minutes, they could have added something else, this is the first time that Weber has appeared in my Blog, even though i've played this work probably seventy times.
Richard Stoltzman is American, he's now 72, this recording was made back in 1982, so already over thirty years old, the photography is brilliant, showing both Stoltzman and Ax on the piano stool, clarinet in Stoltzman's hand, wearing dark clothes and a jet black background, therefore the lighted parts stand out all the more, the lettering is placed at an angle, and the RCA and Red Seal logos are so colourful, i love the finished product.
Well deep down you could call this a Clarinet Sonata i guess, it's in three movements, the first two were the best, and it was the middle movement Andante Con Moto that was the best of all, just under seven minutes long, starts off low and like some sort of lament [0:00-0:18], the notes are very much a beautiful legato, and Stoltzman plays with real feeling in the opening minute [0:19-0:53], a real sadness permeates the whole thing, it's certainly not all low and quiet, at times there's a certain wailing intensity to it, the piano even pulls off a solo [1:46-2:40], which gets quite intense, the way it prepares for the clarinet to come back in is magical, a sort of fanfare, and the clarinet steals in so quietly [2:40-2:58], while the piano plinks away in the treble, that's an inspired creation, the whole movement's in a form of a fantasy, there's really heartbreaking stuff by both players, Stoltzman can reach those breathy depths, play really quiet too, makes an incredible impression, the clarinet is a beautiful instrument, the opening returns in splendour [4:50+], the repetition here is so good, and Stoltzman has some extra depth in presenting the end [6:17+], as the clarinet delves deeper into a sort of bassy death, i feel i need to hear some other players, see what they make of the piece.
Here's Meyer / Sage playing this middle movement on YouTube, however they play it a minute and a half faster, and maybe it misses some of its 'lament' qualities in the process.
Richard Stoltzman is American, he's now 72, this recording was made back in 1982, so already over thirty years old, the photography is brilliant, showing both Stoltzman and Ax on the piano stool, clarinet in Stoltzman's hand, wearing dark clothes and a jet black background, therefore the lighted parts stand out all the more, the lettering is placed at an angle, and the RCA and Red Seal logos are so colourful, i love the finished product.
Well deep down you could call this a Clarinet Sonata i guess, it's in three movements, the first two were the best, and it was the middle movement Andante Con Moto that was the best of all, just under seven minutes long, starts off low and like some sort of lament [0:00-0:18], the notes are very much a beautiful legato, and Stoltzman plays with real feeling in the opening minute [0:19-0:53], a real sadness permeates the whole thing, it's certainly not all low and quiet, at times there's a certain wailing intensity to it, the piano even pulls off a solo [1:46-2:40], which gets quite intense, the way it prepares for the clarinet to come back in is magical, a sort of fanfare, and the clarinet steals in so quietly [2:40-2:58], while the piano plinks away in the treble, that's an inspired creation, the whole movement's in a form of a fantasy, there's really heartbreaking stuff by both players, Stoltzman can reach those breathy depths, play really quiet too, makes an incredible impression, the clarinet is a beautiful instrument, the opening returns in splendour [4:50+], the repetition here is so good, and Stoltzman has some extra depth in presenting the end [6:17+], as the clarinet delves deeper into a sort of bassy death, i feel i need to hear some other players, see what they make of the piece.
Here's Meyer / Sage playing this middle movement on YouTube, however they play it a minute and a half faster, and maybe it misses some of its 'lament' qualities in the process.
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