Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Trio in B flat major, Op.11 (1797-8) for piano, clarinet and cello [19:56]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Trio in A minor, Op.114 (1891) for piano, clarinet and cello [26:26]
Ernst von DOHNÁNYI (1877-1960)
Sextet in C major, Op.37 (1935) for piano, violin, viola, cello, clarinet and horn [29:54]
Jonathan Cohler (clarinet), Claremont Trio (Emily Bruskin (violin), Julia Bruskin (cello) and Donna Kwong (piano)) James Sommerville (horn) and Mai Motobuchi (viola)
rec. Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, USA, 2008
ONGAKU RECORDS 024-122 [76:15]
This disc is another thrilling demonstration of the artistry
of clarinettist Jonathan Cohler who, together with the wonderful Claremont
Trio and another two guest musicians, has produced a programme of three
core chamber works involving the clarinet. Any disc that includes anything
by Beethoven is bound to please me for his music is the bedrock of my
passion for music. I always find myself returning to him as my musical
base whatever other composers have at times beguiled me. Jonathan Cohler
wrote the notes for this disc and he raises an absolutely crucial point
about tempi about which Beethoven was so insistent. The composer’s
letter to fellow composer Ignaz Franz Edler von Mosel (1772-1844) is
instructive: “As far as I am concerned, I have long thought of
giving up the senseless terms, Allegro, Andante, Adagio, Presto, and
for this Mälzel’s metronome offers the best opportunity”.
It was Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny who provided the metronome
markings for this trio and many other works besides since Beethoven
himself had not managed to complete the metronomization of all his works
by the time of his death. Cohler clearly regards the indication as significant
with his use of the exclamation mark after it - the first movement set
at “quarter note equals 176!”. I cannot recall another rendition
of the movement as I write and though it does sound fast it also sounds
perfect in speed terms. I believe that we all have an ideal speed for
things in our minds. At times I find myself thinking that speeds should
either be faster or slower even when it concerns works I’ve never
heard before — I’m sure I’m not alone in this. These
musicians take the movement at this speed which must be quite demanding
but which makes it sound thrilling. The contrast couldn’t be greater
when the second movement opens with its beautiful tune played at what
seems like an incredibly slow pace but how wonderful that makes it sound.
The final movement sums things up and rounds the trio off nicely. It
all serves to remind us how brilliant Beethoven was at whatever he set
himself and listening to this happy, jolly and amusing music it is hard
to imagine him as the surly and difficult man we are told he was.
Brahms got his inspiration for writing his trio, his Quintet in
B minor, Op.115 and much more besides after hearing the clarinet
virtuoso Richard Mühlfeld in Meiningen where he often went to relax
and unwind. As Clara Schumann later observed in a letter to Brahms after
hearing Mühlfeld play the quintet “... it is as if he was specially
created for your works.” Cohler is a true ‘descendent’
of Mühlfeld and there is no doubt both Brahms and Clara Schumann would
have waxed as lyrical over his playing as they did over the music of
his illustrious ‘predecessor’. In fact we are lucky that
Mühlfeld proved such an inspiration to Brahms since he had previously
indicated to his publisher Fritz Simrock that he had done with composing.
In the event this rapturous and substantial work is a veritable joy
to get to know and incorporates what we love and admire most about Brahms,
his facility for writing the most sumptuous tunes that so often tug
at the heartstrings.
The Brahms piece came almost one hundred years after Beethoven’s
and we move on almost another half century to the remaining work, Dohnányi’s
sextet in which the three musicians are joined by James Sommerville
(horn) and Mai Motobuchi (viola). It was extremely interesting to read
that in fact Dohnányi and Brahms met after Brahms arranged performances
of Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet No.1 — Dohnányi couldn’t
be present on the first occasion but managed to get there for the second.
In a comment made to Dohnányi’s teacher Janós Koessler Brahms
said “I could not have written it better myself”; praise
indeed. Some people are destined to suffer from as much misfortune and
tragedy as would be likely to be inflicted in several lifetimes. Poor
Dohnányi was one of these unfortunates, with the loss of two sons in
the war, one as a prisoner of the Russians and another executed by the
Nazis for collaboration in a plot to kill Hitler. Added to these tragedies
was an oft repeated falsehood that he was a Nazi collaborator, something
that dogged him for the rest of his life and which made settling abroad
and resulted in his finding employment difficult. Despite all these
tribulations his naturally upbeat outlook helped him overcome the worst
that life could throw at him and he continued to teach and compose.
This was pursued firstly in Argentina then in the USA where he finally
found a home and a job.
The sextet is a sunny, optimistic work with overtones of Brahms as well
as Johann Strauss, as Cohler points out. Those influences manifest themselves
throughout within a framework that is distinctively his own. The opening
of the finale is suitably jazzy as befits a composer writing in the
1930s when jazz flashes in classical music were very much in vogue.
All three works are played with enthusiasm, verve and panache by all
concerned and the disc is enjoyable from start to finish. These are
three contrasting works with Jonathan Cohler anchoring proceedings throughout
with his consummate skill. I note that he also produced and co-engineered
the disc showing a determination that emphasises his boundless energy
and joy in making music.
Steve Arloff
