Ensemble 360: Stravinsky, Brahms, Mozart, Bartok. Sheffield Upper Chapel. 10/02/22

STRAVINSKY ‘A Soldiers Tale’ Suite; BRAHMS Clarinet Sonata in E flat Op.120 No.2; MOZART Violin Sonata in G K301; BARTÓK Contrasts. Ensemble 360 (Benjamin Nabarro, violin, plus Tim Horton, piano and clarinettist Matthew Hunt

This was an interesting and eclectic programme – unfortunately, the Ensemble 360 cellist who had originally been part of the mix, allowing the more substantial Brahms and Mozart Clarinet/Piano Trios to be performed, couldn’t make the performance, and so these were replaced by the pieces above, and the Bartok replaced a piece by Ades. This was a pity….although it was played very well, the Mozart Violin Sonata is a much less substantial piece than the Piano Trio it replaced. However, in an 18^th century, young Mozart, elegant, kind of way, it was very clearly and stylish played. I was particularly taken by Tim Horton’s piano playing which in its precision and crispness seemed exactly right for this piece. I loved the Stravinsky as well – the 3-instrument arrangement seemed a very good way in to the work, and indeed I enjoyed this set of excerpts much more than I’ve done hearing the real thing. The filling in of the story was also very well-narrated by Matthew Hunt

The Brahms I found a bit disappointing – I’ve really enjoyed over the last year exploring on disc some of the late works by Brahms I hadn’t really heard before – late piano music, clarinet works, viola sonatas, posthumous organ works. The Clarinet Sonata performance seemed to suffer a bit from a lack of melancholy/slowness/shading/ atmosphere; it all sounded a bit too precise and un-reflective, and definitely didn’t feel like an old man thinking about his life in a very soulful way (compared to say the classic recording of Gervase de Peyer and Daniel Barenboim).

I enjoyed the Bartok up to a point, but it didn’t really speak to me

Matthew’s encore was a hilarious late 19^th century piece – I didn’t catch the name of the composer – where the clarinet player stage by stage dismantles his instrument, getting higher and squeakier in the process……..