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Andreas Ottensamer, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Portraits: The Clarinet Album (2013)

Posted By: tirexiss
Andreas Ottensamer, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Portraits: The Clarinet Album (2013)

Andreas Ottensamer, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Portraits: The Clarinet Album (2013)
MP3 (CBR 320 kbps) | 00:57:22 | 138 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Deutsche Grammophon

A glance at the Wikipedia entry for the 24-year-old clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer makes you rub your eyes. He has attained a remarkable curriculum vitae, beginning with his appointment as principal clarinetist of the Berlin Phil. and his acceptance at Harvard. His father and older brother are both principal clarinetists with the Vienna Phil. (the family is from upper Austria). Why should such a fantastic tale stop there? Andreas has also won competition first prizes on cello and piano, and he is the first clarinetist to be signed as an exclusive DG artist. One wonders if he glows in the dark.
On the evidence of his debut album, rather pointlessly titled "Portraits," he shows a wide-ranging musicianship that justifies his astonishing biography. Playing works spanning from the 18th to the 20th century. His style is refined and full of charm - the clarinet is a chuckling instrument as well as a singing one in his hands. He can swing, as displayed in a perfectly idiomatic reading of the Copland Clarinet Cto. There's a delicacy of touch that keeps your ear glued to his playing, which teases with nuance (one can hear why such a soloist would be favored by Simon Rattle). It's quite a show of confidence for Ottenshamer not to flaunt is technique or attempt to dazzle. He has a distinctive voice that isn't a carbon copy of any famous predecessor, from de Peyter and Stoltzman to Michael Collins and Sabine Meyer.
As disparate as the program is it blends into a nicely contrasted flow, and Nezet-Seguin follows suit with light accompaniments; DG's sound is exemplary. There are occasional arrangements (Debussy's Girl with the Flaxen Hair, a Gershwin Prelude, and the cimarosa concerto, first composed for oboe). the only showpiece form the standard clarinet repertoire, and the most romantic work, is the Spohr concerto, beloved of clarinetists even if the general music public doesn't encounter it often. Ottenshamer's performance is smooth as silk; his control of micro-dynamics is remarkable.

Andreas Ottensamer, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Portraits: The Clarinet Album (2013)

Track List:

01. George Gershwin: 3 Preludes For Piano Solo - 1. Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
02-03. Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto
04. Claude Debussy: Préludes, Book 1 - La fille aux cheveux de lin
05-08. Domenico Cimarosa: Concerto in C
09. Amy Marcy Beach: Three Pieces For Violin & Piano, Op.40 - Berceuse
10-12. Louis Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No.1 in C minor, Op.26

Performers:
Andreas Ottensamer (clarinet)
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)

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