2014

Sir Andrew Davis.

Martin Fröst, clarinet<br/>Janine Jansen & Boris Brovtsyn, violins;<br/>Maxim Rysanov, viola; Torleif Thedéen, cello;<br/>Roland Pöntinen, piano<br/><br/>Johannes Brahms's Clarinet Quintet is core repertoire, not just for clarinettists but also in the entire chamber music genre. As such, it has been on Martin Fröst's 'to-be-recorded list' for a long time, and when he gathered a dream-team of string players for a concert in Stockholm in February 2013, it was the perfect opportunity for BIS to organize a recording session. Brahms's Quintet was written in 1891 by a composer who only a year previously had renounced composing, but whose creative urge had been reawakened by his encounter with the leading clarinettist of the time, Richard Mühlfeld. Some 120 years later, Fröst - one of today's most highly regarded musicians and the recipient of the 2014 Sonning Prize - steps into Mühlfeld's shoes, in the company of Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Maxim Rysanov and Torleif Thedéen. As a complement to this substantial work - with a duration of almost 35 minutes - Martin Fröst has transcribed six much-loved songs by Brahms, performing them with his chamber music partner of long standing, the eminent pianist Roland Pöntinen. The songs, composed between 1866-1886, range from high lyricism (Die Mainacht) to bitter-sweet nostalgia (Wie Melodien...), via the humourous Vergebliches Ständchen. To these new recordings has been added a substantial 'bonus' - Martin Fröst's performance with Pöntinen and Thedéen of the Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, which Brahms composed for Mühlfeld in the same year as the quintet. Originally released in 2005, the recording of the Trio received a warm welcome, including an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, as well as a 'Disc of the Month' on website ClassicsToday.com.

Stenhammar: Serenade (Lindberg) [SACD Hybrid]

Stenhammar: String quartets (Stenhammar Quartet) [SACD Hybrid]

Arabella Steinbacher (violin)<br/><br/>Festival Strings Lucerne, Daniel Dodds<br/><br/>Arabella Steinbacher is one of the fastest-rising stars in the world of music today. This young performer is already being hailed as one of the truly great violinists of our times, acclaimed by The New York Times for playing with 'balanced lyricism and fire'.<br/><br/>At the age of 8, Ms Steinbacher was already performing her first violin concerto by the composer. And since then, the work has reappeared throughout her successful career like a leitmotiv. Yet her performance has never appeared on a CD, Following repeated requests from concert audiences, it is now finally 'Zeit Fur Mozart' (= time for Mozart): the fulfilment of a long-cherished wish, not only for Arabella, but also for her many followers. For all those aficionados who want to enjoy Mozart's most playful melodies, this is sure to be a case of 'love at first listen'.

Idenstam Gunnar: Debussy & Ravel [SACD Hybrid]

The Swedish string ensemble Camerata Nordica and its artistic director Terje Tønnesen made their first joint appearance on BIS in 2013 with an all-Britten programme. Released in conjunction with the ensemble's début at the BBC Proms, the disc received critical acclaim, with the reviewer on the website ClassicsToday.com including it 'among the Britten year's outstanding releases' and his colleague in BBC Music Magazine agreeing: 'The Britten centenary can't have produced finer recorded performances than these, with wonderful dynamic shading, bomproof tuning, and real drama.' The team now returns with another programme of 20th-century music for strings - this time by four different composers, and spanning from the years before World War I to a few days before the outbreak of World War II.