5.3.2009
Today's
concert in Ettlingen took place in the beautiful Asamsaal,
named after the artist who created the fresco on the ceiling. The room is
a modified former chapel. When I went to buy the tickets, a nice lady who
happened to be in the ticket office told me the background story of the
fresco, and suggested I went there early to have a good look - which I
did. It's well worth looking at.
The artists were Itamar Golan, Thorleif Thedéen and Martin
Fröst. The latter is a phenomenal clarinet player with an admirable
control of sound. The musical substance was mostly concentrated in the
Trios, by Beethoven and Brahms, for clarinet, cello and piano (ops.
11 and 114 resp.). Sandwiched between them was a selection of Max Bruch's
Eight Pieces, again set for those instruments. The composition
is not on a par with the other works given, but that was made good for by the
opportunities it gave aplenty for expressive and characterizing play,
particular in the cello and clarinet parts.
