program:
Atli Ingolfsson (* 1962) [01] Orgoras Speaks for two clarinettists and ensemble (2009) 11:51 The clarinet duo Beate Zelinsky | David Smeyers
Adriana Holszky (* 1953) [02] maneuvers for two clarinets and orchestra (2006) 15:40 The clarinet duo Beate Zelinsky | David Smeyers
Nicholas Brass (* 1949) [03] time in the ground Concerto for two clarinets and strings (2008) 37:41 The clarinet duo Beate Zelinsky | David Smeyers
Total playing time: 65:12
All the works on this CD were composed for, dedicated to and premiered by Beate Zelinsky and David Smeyers. |
Press:
December 2018, by Derek Emch This album by Beate Zelinsky and David Smeyers, together known as Das Klarinettenduo, is a challenging yet rewarding collection of three double concertos that explore the possibilities of spectralism in concert works for clarinet. Accompanying the recording is a wonderfully detailed collection of liner notes written by Ingo Dorfmüller in German, English and French. (…) Concluding the album is a 37-minute double concerto by Nikolaus Brass titled Zeit im Grund (Time Grounded). As is implied by the title, this work explores temporal flow within music as it relates to motivic repetition and development. Brass's selected motives have been stripped bare: single repeated pitches, a repeated leap of a seventh, and clashing minor seconds between the basset horn and bass clarinet of Zelinsky and Smeyers. Slowly, these simple motifs swirl and circle around each other, combine, break up and reform. (...) In sum, this is a well-executed album, with a diverse yet complementary selection of spectral repertoire and informative liner notes, which should be most helpful to those who are interested in spectral music for clarinet but may be unsure where to begin.
by Prof. Dr. Stefan Drees, March 23.3.2018, XNUMX The highlight of the release is the double concerto 'Zeit im Grund' for two clarinets and strings (2008) by Nikolaus Brass, whose extended course of 38 minutes is surprisingly entertaining when played back with the Munich Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alexander Liebreich. […] All in all, the CD surprises with a varied approach to the compositional problem of contrasting the solo clarinet duo with a larger collective of musicians. In all three cases, Zelinsky and Smeyers proved to be up to the tasks entrusted to them and, with their multifaceted approach to the works, contribute to the all-round successful conception of this portrait. And finally, the three short introductory texts in the booklet, each with an illustration of score pages or sketches, provide a very good introduction to the aesthetically very different worlds of Ingólfsson, Hölszky and Brass. Read the full review here.
Feb 2018 (...) Adriana Hölszky's “Flugmanäver” is also written for two clarinets. A mighty symphony orchestra (here the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden Baden und Freiburg under Arturo Tamayo) builds up tonally, gets on the fur of the screaming, chattering clarinet duo of Beate Zelinsky and David Smeyers. (...) In doing so, Hölszky radically drives the soloists out of the classical beauty of playing. A third clarinet work fits in again differently – almost as a radical alternative: Nikolaus Brass' “Zeit im Grund” – performed here by the strings of the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Liebreich. (...) Small movements, almost reminiscences, shy euphony. (...) Wonderful motifs appear out of nowhere, then disappear again. But there is nothing provisional here – that speaks for this orchestra and its two soloists – but rather something breathingly narrative. One thing becomes clear on this beautiful CD: the clarinet no longer wants to be the “little brother” that the clarinet was long considered to be. (Tilman Urbach) |
