NDR Philharmonie Kammermusik on tour 2025

In the organizer's words:

Bartosz Zachlod, violin
Oliver Mascarenhas, violoncello
Til Renner, clarinet
Johannes Nies, piano

Program:

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Clarinet Trio in A minor, op.114
for clarinet, violoncello and piano
Allegro
Adagio
Andantino grazioso
Allegro

"Johannes Brahms' late chamber music works are certainly among the most magnificent ever written for the clarinet. In the last years of his life, Brahms already seemed to have grown weary of composing - but fortunately for posterity, in 1891 he met the principal clarinettist of the Meiningen Court Orchestra, Richard Mühlfeld, who inspired him with his beautiful playing and inspired him to new compositions." (Henle Verlag)

Walter Rabl (1873-1940)
Quartet in E major, op.1
for clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano
Allegro moderato
Adagio molto
Andantino un poco mosso
Allegro con brio

"In any case, the best is a pianoforte quartet with clarinet. It is said to be by Rabl, a pupil of Nawratil. I don't know much about the young man and his works, .... but of course I'm keeping an eye on him and his piece now." This was Johannes Brahms' positive assessment of the op. 1 by the then 23-year-old Walter Rabl in a letter to his publisher Simrock in 1896." It is not surprising that Simrock did not hesitate for long and gladly included Rabl's pieces in his catalog, as the spirit of Brahms' chamber music can be felt more clearly in this clarinet quartet than in almost any other representative of the then young generation. Even in this Opus 1, the perfect art of composition and the melodic ingenuity that permeates all the movements are captivating.