Pascal Moraguès / Frank Braley / Christian Poltéra BRAHMS Clarinet Sonatas & Trio

Brahms is re-inspired thanks to... the clarinet. For one year the composer wrote little, feeling that his work must be finished. But in 1891 he would go to Meiningen in Germany, and make the reinvigorating acquaintance of virtuoso court orchestra clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. By the sides of this extraordinary musician, Brahms would gain a deeper understanding of his playing as well as the technical and musical possibilities of the instrument. He thus composed his four last chamber music pieces with the clarinet : The Trio Op. 114 in 1891, the Quintet Op. 115 ; then in the summer of 1894 his two Sonatas for Clarinet, Op. 120.

Rachel Kolly d’Alba / Christian Chamorel LYRICAL JOURNEY

The two musicians have known each other since an early age and ever since have performed together intensely on every continent across the planet. For their second album together, the violinist Rachel Kolly d’Alba and the pianist Christian Chamorel have chosen two of the most demanding sonatas from the post-romantic repertoire. 

Linking the Belgian Guillaume Lekeu and the German Richard Strauss on the same disc is as captivating as the dialogue between their two inspired interpreters. Richard Strauss wrote his Sonata op. 18 in 1886 and Guillaume Lekeu followed him 6 years later. Besides this chronological proximity, the two composers were both 22 when they composed these works: so it’s natural to ask if these sonatas have other points in common.