This recording brings together Brahms's only two works for soloist plus string quartet. In that the one was written so early and the other so late in Brahms's career, the coupling enables the listener to observe, at a single sitting, the broad span of his development.
The Bath International Ensemble--comprising James Campbell, clarinet, Rian de Waal, piano and the Allegri Quartet--are well suited by both temperament and experience to this music. As an ensemble they explore the very depths of the drama and lyrical power and youthful energy of the Piano Quintet, and the heart-stopping autumnal tints of the sublime Clarinet Quintet--one of the finest works of chamber music ever written.
Review:
"A performance to rank with the best... the combination of two such fine performances is highly recommended" Classic CD
"...excellent music, fine performances, and faithful sound....Cala presents the first CD I have ever met that breaks the 80 minute barrier. Far from being compromised, the sound is of unusually high quality....Definition of instrumental timbres is state-of-the-art."Fanfare
"...the Allegri are excitingly febrile....the Clarinet Quintet...where the soloist James Campbell's opening phrase - a whole Romantic dream in one breath - promises poignant delights, and the entire performance fulfils the promise. In its exquisite twilit vein, it has no competitors." Financial Times
Biography:
James Campbell
James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award, a Roy Thomson Hall Award, the 1989 Canada's Artist of the Year, and in 1997 Campbell received Canada's highest honor: the Order of Canada.
The subject of numerous features and cover stories in Clarinet Magazine (USA), Clarinet and Sax (UK), Piper Magazine (Japan) and Gramophone, James Campbell is also featured in the book Clarinet Virtuosi of Today, by British author and clarinet authority Pamela Weston.
Called "Canada's pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist", by the Toronto Star, James Campbell has performed in most of the world's major concert halls. Campbell has also collaborated and performed with many of the world's great musicians including the late Glenn Gould, Aaron Copland, Elly Ameling, Janos Starker, as well as the Borodin Trio, Penderecki, Amadeus, Guarneri, Fine Arts, Allegri, Manhattan, and Colorado String Quartets.
He has been a guest soloist with over 50 orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, The National Radio-Television Orchestra of Spain, the Belgrade Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Of Campbell's extensive discography many have won international acclaim. Most recently on Cala Records, are the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with the Allegri Quartet that was voted "Top Choice" by BBC Radio 3 and the world premiere recording of Brahms Sonata Op. 120 No. 1, orchestrated by Luciano Berio, with the London Symphony Orchestra. Another is the re-release of Debussy's Première Rhapsodie on Sony Classical with Glenn Gould. During 2000, James Campbell appeared on CBC Records Brahms Jenner Trios and Gerald Finzi -Meditation.
James Campbell also tours with Classical Jazz and Da Camera and is artistic director of Festival of the Sound. Since 1989, James Campbell makes Bloomington his base during the academic year as Professor of Music at the prestigious Music School of Indiana University.
The Allegri String Quartet
The present members of the Quartet are the inheritors of a tradition that began nearly fifty years ago when four remarkably talented players (Eli Goren, James Barton, Patrick Ireland and William Pleeth) came together to create inspired performances of the great classical and romantic chamber music repertoire. England's most respected quartet today derives both continuity and individuality from its members who are the proud guardians of those original ideals. Peter Carter, leader for 25 years, and his younger colleagues, Pal Banda, Dorothea Vogel and Rafael Todes, bring to the quartet a wealth of chamber music experience from around the world, and the Allegri's distinctive personality continues to evolve.
|
