Robert Fuchs; Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Quintet (Sebastian Manz; Danish String Quartet)

Information

Composer: Robert Fuchs; Johannes Brahms

1. Fuchs - Clarinet Quintet in E flat major, Op. 102: I. Allegro molto moderato
2. Fuchs - Clarinet Quintet in E flat major, Op. 102: II. Allegro scherzando
3. Fuchs - Clarinet Quintet in E flat major, Op. 102: III. Andante sostenuto
4. Fuchs - Clarinet Quintet in E flat major, Op. 102: IV. Allegro grazioso
5. Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115: I. Allegro
6. Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115: II. Adagio
7. Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115: III. Andantino
8. Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115: IV. Con moto

Sebastian Manz, clarinet
&
Danish String Quartet
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violin
Frederik Øland, violin
Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola
Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello

Date: 2014
Label: CAvi-music
https://avi-music.de/html/2014/e3300.html

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Review

This CD combines the immortal clarinet quintet of Johannes Brahms with the unmistakably Brahmsian—but of course lesser—quintet of Robert Fuchs. Fuchs’s Quintet is very Viennese, charming, and expertly crafted, and deserves a hearing now and again. I wrote in some detail about this work in reviewing Stephan Siegenthaler’s recording in Fanfare 35:5.

Sebastian Manz, still in his 20s, is principal clarinetist of the SWR Orchestra Stuttgart and a former student of Sabine Meyer. He has a lovely, dark tone and terrific control; he may seem too young to play Brahms’s quintessentially autumnal masterpiece, but other than overdoing things a bit in the second movement’s climactic mm. 85–86 he is exemplary here. The Danish String Quartet, whose members appear to be about the same age as Manz, provides solid support; the many passages in octaves for violin and clarinet are spot-on. There is some lovely give-and-take in the third-movement Andantino and in the theme-and-variations finale.

Fuchs’s Quintet receives a sympathetic reading, more polished than that by Siegenthaler. The recording is attractive and well balanced, with just the right amount of ambience. There are many superb versions of the Brahms Quintet available—by Karl Leister, Harold Wright, and David Shifrin, or more recently by Sharon Kam and Jon Manasse—but not so the Fuchs. Accordingly, highly recommended.

-- Richard A. Kaplan, FANFARE

More reviews:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/fuchs-brahms-clarinet-quintets-mw0002619402
https://www.amazon.com/Clarinet-Quintets-Tonsgaard-Sørensen-violin/dp/B00IA1VNGQ

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Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, among them are Mahler, Sibelius, Wolf, Schmidt, Schreker, Zemlinsky, Enescu and Konrgold. As a composer, Fuchs was very highly regarded in his lifetime, with Brahms among his admirers. Famous contemporary conductors, including Arthur Nikisch, Felix Weingartner and Hans Richter, championed his works when they had the opportunity. Fuchs' best known works were his five serenades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fuchs

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Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters, with a highly romantic nature embedded within.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms

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Sebastian Manz (born 1986 in Hanover) is a German clarinetist. Manz studied clarinet at Musikhochschule Lübeck under Sabine Meyer and Rainer Wehle. He was the first clarinetist in 40 years to win first prize in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2008. Manz has performed with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and Collegium Musicum Basel. Since 2010, he is soloist in the Stuttgart Radio Symphony. Manz was the recipient of two ECHO Klassik award: "Newcomer of the Year" in 2011, and "Chamber Music Recording of the Year" in 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Manz
http://www.sebastianmanz.com/

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