{"id":49,"date":"2017-08-28T14:02:03","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T04:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/?p=49"},"modified":"2018-06-05T14:07:27","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T04:07:27","slug":"the-clarinotts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/the-clarinotts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clarinotts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ernst Ottensamer, Daniel Ottensamer, Andreas Ottensamer (clarinets)<\/h2>\n

with Wiener Virtuosen<\/h2>\n

Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ponchielli et al<\/h2>\n

DGG 481 19172<\/p>\n

TPT: 56\u2019 50\u201d<\/p>\n

reviewed by Rosalind Appleby<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what our partners will do a millisecond before they do it\u201d, says Andreas Ottensamer, the youngest member of The Clarinotts. \u201cIt\u2019s a luxury you\u2019ll rarely have with any other ensemble\u201d.<\/p>\n

The incredible cohesion between the three clarinetists is what struck me on a \u2018blind\u2019 listen to The Clarinotts album \u2013 that and their uncannily similar sound quality. It made sense when I had a closer look at the performers and realised it was Ernst Ottensamer in ensemble with his sons, the famous Viennese \u2018Royal Family of the Clarinet\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ernst Ottensamer is being mourned around the world after dying tragically of a heart attack on 22 July. He was only 62. Ernst was principal clarinet in the Wiener Phiharmoniker from 1983 and founding member of the Wiener Blaserensemble and Wiener Virtuosen.<\/p>\n

Ernst inspired a generation of clarinettists around the world, including his own children. His eldest son\u00a0Daniel<\/a>\u00a0became co-principal clarinet in the Vienna Philharmonic alongside his father, and his youngest son\u00a0Andreas\u00a0<\/a>is principal clarinet in the\u00a0Berlin Philharmonic<\/a>. Together, the three of them formed The Clarinotts, releasing their first album in 2009 and their second in 2016.<\/p>\n

The 2016 self-titled album opens with Mendelssohn\u2019s sparkling Concert Piece No 1 for clarinet, basset horn and orchestra. The brilliant duet was composed rather appropriately for the father-son duo of Heinrich and Carl Baermann. It is full of dazzling operatic writing and I was struck by the warm, full bodied sound of the basset horn and clarinet \u2013 and the driving energy of their playing.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s repertoire traces Ernst\u2019s career trajectory including his time in the pit of the Vienna State Opera with works like the trio\u00a0Soave sia il vento<\/em>\u00a0from Mozart\u2019s Cosi fan tutte and the\u00a0Fantasy<\/em>\u00a0on themes from Verdi\u2019s\u00a0Rigoletto<\/em>\u00a0by Franz and Karl Doppler. Dance-style works also get a look in with Rossini\u2019s\u00a0La danza<\/em>\u00a0quoting from the overture to\u00a0William Tell<\/em>\u00a0and the sentimental French-style waltz of Cantilene from Francaix\u2019s\u00a0Petit Quatuor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ponchielli\u2019s\u00a0Il Convegno<\/em>\u00a0has both sweetness and fire. Andreas and Daniel perform with extraordinary precision, their virtuosic runs, flourishes and dramatic rubato perfectly synchronised.<\/p>\n

As you would expect, this is an album of great finesse and class, accompanied by none other than the Wiener Virtuosen, an ensemble made up of the section principals of the Wiener Philharmoniker. They are certainly some of the best players for the romantic\/early 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century repertoire that dominates the first half of the album.<\/p>\n

Bela Koreny\u2019s\u00a0Cinema I<\/em>\u00a0is based on the plot of Paul Verhoeven\u2019s film\u00a0Basic Instinct<\/em>\u00a0and you can feel the intrigues and the tension in Ernst\u2019s spooky bass clarinet and the wails of Andreas\u2019 and Daniel\u2019s clarinets over the top, accompanied by the Wiener Virtuosen with Christoph Traxler on piano. The bossa nova tune\u00a0Morning of the Carnival<\/em>\u00a0by Luiz Bonfa was another contrast; slick and sultry.<\/p>\n

A comment for clarinet nerds: check out the almost inaudible articulation from all three. It sounds like diaphragm articulation but it has the even attack of tonguing, generating sublimely clean playing.<\/p>\n

The richness of this album is the synergy of three virtuosic clarinetists who really do seem to be of one mind: \u00a0it sounds like one person multi-tracking!\u00a0 But what makes it really gripping listening are the energy and emotion the Ottensamer family bring to their music making. They really pull out all the stops in Olivier Truan\u2019s unaccompanied trio\u00a0The Chase<\/em>\u00a0and it\u2019s an exhilarating conclusion to the album. Turns out, it is also a fitting final bow from Ernst Ottensamer; a testimony to a life spent sharing music with excellence and passion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ernst Ottensamer, Daniel Ottensamer, Andreas Ottensamer (clarinets) with Wiener Virtuosen Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ponchielli et al DGG 481 19172 TPT: 56\u2019 50\u201d reviewed by Rosalind Appleby \u201cWe know what our partners will do a millisecond before they do it\u201d, says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[55],"tags":[70,18,71,17,73,74,19,16,15,34,76,72,75],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recordings-cds","tag-berlin-pilharmonic","tag-chon","tag-clarient","tag-cohn","tag-ernst-ottensamer","tag-mendelssohn","tag-neville-chon","tag-neville-cohn","tag-perth","tag-perth-concert-hall","tag-rosalind-appleby","tag-vienna-philharmonic","tag-vienna-state-opera"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Yv33-N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/a-night-in-vienna\/","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":0},"title":"A Night in Vienna","author":"reviewer","date":"July 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn A Night in Vienna was made memorable by Asher Fisch\u2019s gratifyingly meaningful direction as his forces, much on their musical toes, served up memorable moments from Richard Strauss\u2019 Der Rosenkavalier. 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