Clarinet Trios: Schumann/Bruch/Mozart by Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group

Robert Schumann, Max Bruch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group

Clarinet Trios: Schumann/Bruch/Mozart

Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020181943
Catnr: LWC 1172
Release date: 03 May 2019
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Label
Lawo Classics

UPC
7090020181943

Catalogue number
LWC 1172

Release date
03 May 2019

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

CLARINET TRIOS
The combination of clarinet, viola and piano has not been used much by composers throughout the ages, and the most representative works are on this recording. Featured on this fourth release of Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group are solo clarinettist Leif Arne Pedersen, violist Henninge Landaas and pianist Gonzalo Moreno.

Mozart heard the clarinet in the large cities and became ever more ardent in his enthusiasm for it. After settling in Vienna in 1781, he made the acquaintance of clarinettist Anton Stadler, and the two had an important influence on the instrument’s increasing popularity.

“Kegelstatt Trio”, heard on this CD, was composed in jovial company, in the context of a house concert at which Mozart himself played viola and Stadler clarinet. That Mozart composed “Kegelstatt Trio” while playing skittles is only partially true; “Kegelstatt” was added to the title of the trio in E-flat major sometime later. It can sound as though the three instruments in effect toss pins to each other in equal and elegant music making.

Schumann composed “Märchenerzählungen” in the spring of 1854, and his fairy tale images were composed in a three-day rush of creativity. The combination of instruments seemed to him very romantic, and he was clearly inspired by his dear friend Johannes Brahms. The four narratives do not refer to particular fairy tales, even though this time coincides with the publication of Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

The antiquated, more inward style of Bruch’s eight pieces for clarinet, viola and piano is perhaps due to the fact that he was 70 years old and soon to retire when he composed the work. Almost all the movements are minor, with emphasis on deep pitch. The eight movements are different, without any connection. Each movement develops its own themes with ever new ideas, and Bruch’s enthusiasm for traditional folk music is evident in several of the movements.

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Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group have previously released “Mozart – Brahms: Clarinet Quintets” (LWC1015), “Mozart/Halvorsen/Brustad” (LWC1028) and “Beethoven: Woodwind Trios” (LWC1034) on the LAWO Classics label.

Artist(s)

Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group

Leif Arne Pedersen (clarinet)

Leif Arne Pedersen, born 1964 in Porsgrunn, is principal clarinet of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has held since 1990. Pedersen studied with Knut Henriksen, Bendt Neuchs Sørensen in Copenhagen, and Larry Combs in Chicago. In 1987, after having performed for two years with the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces, he was hired as co-principal clarinet of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He joined the OPO as co-principal clarinet in 1988. In 1996 Pedersen and the Oslo Philharmonic premiered Rolf Wallin’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, for which the composer received the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Pedersen’s orchestral solos often receive special attention in the Norwegian and foreign press. He has on numerous occasions performed as soloist with Norway’s principal symphony orchestras, and by virtue of his position with the OPO he has collaborated with a number of the world’s leading soloists and conductors. Pedersen is active as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has made guest appearances as chamber musician and teacher at festivals in Europe, South America, and Asia. From 2003 to 2008 he was Music Director of the Royal Norwegian Navy Band, and today he holds the same position with the Royal Norwegian Air Force Band. He is professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music, teaching clarinet and chamber music. Pedersen has several previous releases on the LAWO Classics label, both as clarinettist and conductor.

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Henninge Landaas (viola)

Henninge Landaas is violist in Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a member of the internationally renowned Vertavo String Quartet, with which she performed in concert halls the world over. The ensemble’s critically acclaimed recordings include works by Carl Nielsen, Brahms, Bartok, Grieg and Debussy, among others. With the quartet she shared the Norwegian Music Critics’ Prize, Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy), and the prestigious French award, Diapason d’Or. Henninge Landaas has released a number of CDs on the LAWO Classics label, among them, “Johannes Brahms: Sonatas for Viola & Piano, Op. 120” (LWC1027) and “The Golden Hindemith” (LWC1005). Landaas is currently a member of the string trio Ssens Trio. She plays a G. B. Guadagnini viola on loan from Dextra Musica.

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Gonzalo Moreno (piano)

Gonzalo Moreno was born in Madrid and studied at the Madrid Royal Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Moreno has resided in Norway since 1990 and has been principal pianist of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra since 1992. Among the festivals at which he has appeared are Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Bergen International Festival, and the Oslo and Risør Chamber Music Festivals. Gonzalo Moreno has appeared as soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on numerous occasions, and he has contributed to recordings with BIS, Simax, and Aurora, among others.

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Composer(s)

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Works such as Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C are among his most famous. His writings about music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.
In 1840, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara, against the wishes of her father, following a long and acrimonious legal battle, which found in favour of Clara and Robert. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert career as a pianist, the earnings from which, before her marriage, formed a substantial part of her father's fortune.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating with phases of ‘exaltation’ and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted to a mental asylum, at his own request, in Endenich near Bonn. Diagnosed with "psychotic melancholia", Schumann died two years later in 1856 without having recovered from his mental illness.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose actual name is Joannes Chrysotomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a composer, pianist, violinist and conductor from the classical period, born in Salzburg. Mozart was a child prodigy. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all of music's history. Within the classical tradition, he was able to develop new musical concepts which left an everlasting impression on all the composers that came after him. Together with Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven he is part of the First Viennese School. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. From 1763 he traveled with his family through all of Europe for three years and from 1769 he traveled to Italy and France with his father Leopold after which he took residence in Paris. On July 3rd, 1778, his mother passed away and after a short stay in Munich with the Weber family, his father urged him to return to Salzburg, where he was once again hired by the Bishop. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death.

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Max Bruch

Max Bruch was a German composer from the Romantic period. Max Bruch received his first music education from his mother. Later he studied under Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke. In 1858, he brought his first operetta Scherz, List und Rache, based on a text by Goethe, to the stage in Cologne. He stayed in Munich for two years and later he worked as a conductor in Koblenz from 1865 to 1867. During this time, he composed his famous Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in g, op. 26. It is an incredibly romantic piece and a favourite of many violinists. Bruch died in Berlin at the age of 82.

Max Bruch was a German composer from the Romantic period. Max Bruch received his first music education from his mother. Later he studied under Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke.
In 1858, he brought his first operetta Scherz, List und Rache, based on a text by Goethe, to the stage in Cologne. He stayed in Munich for two years and later he worked as a conductor in Koblenz from 1865 to 1867. During this time, he composed his famous Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in g, op. 26. It is an incredibly romantic piece and a favourite of many violinists. Bruch died in Berlin at the age of 82.

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