Two great artists, pianist Sir Andras Schiff and composer/clarinettist Jorg Widmann, join forces for the first time on record, performing Brahms's late masterpieces, the Clarinet Sonatas Op. 120, written in 1894. In between the sonatas Schiff plays Widmann's evocative Intermezzi for piano which he composed especially for Schiff making this new recording the premiere. As Jörg Widmann explains in a programme note, these are works inspired by his friendship with Andras Schiff and by a shared love of Brahms, to whom they pay tribute.
Jörg Widmann says of this work: "In their disconcerting concision and terse brevity, Johannes Brahms' late intermezzos occupy a unique place in the piano literature. It was this inflection in Brahms' late music that I sought to capture in my own Intermezzos, however different I might be in age and disposition. I owe the existence of my piano Intermezzos to my longstanding friendship with Sir Andras Schiff. Over the years we have played the magnificent late Op. 120 Clarinet Sonatas many times, and also spoken of our love for Brahms, over and over again. We presented a joint programme devoted to Brahms-related pieces at the 2010 Salzburg Festival, also including such Brahms-related pieces as Zemlinsky's Clarinet Trio Op. 3. It was at this recital that Andras gave my piano Intermezzos their premiere performance".
This album was recorded at Neumarkt's Historischer Reitstadel. © ECM New Series