Rääts, Pärt, Gorecki: Kaleidoscopic

The trio combination of cello, piano and clarinet may seem unusual, but there is more music written for it than you might imagine—including works by Beethoven. The three modern masterpieces here highlight the depth of colour and freshness of sound wrought from a marriage of these instruments: Rääts’ Kaleidoscopic Etudes thrums with energy, its incessant, virtuosic Reichian patterns contrasting with more plaintive moments where cello and clarinet dreamily commingle. Arvo Pärt’s arrangement of a Mozart Piano Sonata Adagio is a masterly, touching reworking of harmonies and textures, while Górecki’s Lerchenmusik, though largely meditative and brooding, shocks with its moments of ferocious intensity. Consummate, radiant playing from all musicians.