The young Tesla Quartet, based in New York and originating at the Juilliard School, has had special success so far in Britain. You can see why, in a way: the pairing of Mozart and an early 20th century British work would be typical there, and for this recording with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, the group traveled to Britain to record at the acoustically famed Wyastone Estate Concert Hall. This album looks likely to repeat the critical success of its predecessors, and it's quite lovely. It's elegantly programmed: all ...
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The young Tesla Quartet, based in New York and originating at the Juilliard School, has had special success so far in Britain. You can see why, in a way: the pairing of Mozart and an early 20th century British work would be typical there, and for this recording with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, the group traveled to Britain to record at the acoustically famed Wyastone Estate Concert Hall. This album looks likely to repeat the critical success of its predecessors, and it's quite lovely. It's elegantly programmed: all the music is instrumental and abstract, but it lives up to the theme of Joy & Desolation announced by the title. The opening Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581, of Mozart is taken at slow tempi and tends just slightly to plod; the finale does not really deliver the promised "Joy." However, the Five Bagatelles, Op. 23, of Gerald Finzi, are gems. The work was originally for clarinet and piano and is effectively arranged here for clarinet and quartet by Christian Alexander. Finzi himself...
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