It must have been an exceptionally eager Euterpe who steered Richard Mühlfeld on the path of Johannes Brahms in 1891. The clarinetist of the Meiningen court orchestra impressed the almost 60 year-old, retired symphonist to such an extent that the latter arose from his creative lethargy, went back to work and composed several pieces featuring the clarinet that same year. We catch a glimpse of Brahms’ beguilement through the pages of the first Mühlfeld-inspired creation: the Trio2 opus 114. Throughout its four parts, Brahms makes the most of the clarinet’s registers: the upper echelon combining power with brilliance, the lower boasting a range of ambers suited to grand melodic gestures, the middle harboring an energy with potential for vigorous figuration, rhythmic vitality and dance-like dash.

Feat. Richard Lester - Ian Brown - Håkon Austbø - Mats Lidström