Michael Collins and the Escher Quartet join to present the clarinet quintets by Brahms and Reger, released today on BIS Records.
The album has received a 5* review in the newest issue BBC Music Magazine:
“British clarinettist and conductor Michael Collins continues to enjoy a fruitful career, on the concert platform and in the recording studio”
“polished and authoritative interpretations”
“a most welcome release”
Composed at the twilight of his career, Brahms’s quintet is an elegiac masterpiece. It radiates aching nostalgia and a poignant sense of lost love, ultimately settling into a melancholy serenity. Its emotional directness is occasionally surprising yet never sacrifices subtlety. Max Reger modelled his own Clarinet Quintet on those by Mozart and Brahms. In this final composition before his untimely death, Reger pushes tonal limits without compromising structure. Seamlessly integrating the clarinet, he creates a beautifully balanced ensemble capable of both powerful outbursts and delicate textures.
prestomusic.com/classical/products/9959657–brahms-reger-clarinet-quintet