Search - Renaud Capucon, Gautier Capucon :: Brahms: Double Concerto; Clarinet Quintet Op.115

Outstanding!

Sherman Lambert | 06/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered this CD in a review from The Week. This collection totally lived up to its 4 stars! The sound is more full and powerful than any Brahm's recording I have ever heard. This CD makes the excellent Bernstein DG CD sound weak in comparison. The Capucons are worth finding and remembering."

The outstanding performance is the Clarinet Quintet

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Brahms' late, melancholy Double Concerto gets top billing here, and the brothers Capucon are very good in it. But for me the winner on this CD is the Clarinet Quintet. Its free-form rhapsody suits the Capucon Quartet and Paul Meyer, the bright, elegant clarinetist. The pitfall in this work is that it tempts the players to swoon and over-emote. When that happens, you feel lost in thick Romantic pea soup. I had more or less given up on the work, but this reading restores my faith. It's crisp, forward-moving, and not overly earnest. The sonics from EMI/Virgin are very clear, if a bit edgy at top volume. Definitely a five-star performance.



As for the Double Concerto, I think the performance fights against itself. As you can tell from the first entry of the cello, the Capucon brothers are out to maximize emotion and to pull the ad lib melodic line as far as it can go. But Myung-Whun Chung is rather reticent in his conducting, and the Mahler Youth Orchestra's lighter texture isn't in keeping with the two soloists, who play as if they are on a very big stage. In other respects, however, this is certainly a fine reading.



In all, the Doublte Concerto can't compete with the best in the field, but the Capucons' sweet, light-handed Clarinet Qt. can."

Comparable to the Greatest Versions

Stephen Grabow | Lawrence, Kansas | 09/21/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My previous favorite of this work was the Testament recoding of Tortelier and Ferras conducted by Paul Kletzki. This new version by Capucon & Capucon has wonderful balance and great poetry, beutifully recorded. The Clarinet quintet is a terrific bonus. For me, this now joins the ranks of the greatest versions of this great concerto."