July 16, 2022
We owe a long, exciting musical journey into the realm of chamber music and the not so self-evident examination of clarinet trios to three top musicians who have recorded seven CDs under the title “Anthology”.
The clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer of the Vienna Philharmonic, the cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic Stephan Koncz and the pianist Christoph Traxler chose original compositions for their collection in which they exploit all the tonal possibilities of their instruments with perfect mastery and in doing so roam through several stylistic stations.
In such a variety and differentiated treatment of the sound material, the listener can experience a hardly comparable encounter with the niche genre of the clarinet trio. A Max Bruch, Arvo Pärt, Nina Rota and many others enriched the division. As an exception, however, allow me to emphasize the importance of the late romantic Viennese composer Alexander Zemlinsky in chamber music as well.
In 1896 he wrote the trio for clarinet (or violin), violoncello and piano, which is still a complete successor to Brahms and cannot be assigned to any direction of new music. The lively, musical finale succeeds here as a special highlight that no attentive listener should miss.