Brahms Clarinet Quintet & Zemlinsky Clarinet Trio

"It's surprising that Emma Johnson hadn't tackled this work on disc before, but I'm very glad to have caught up with it eventually, especially as the Zemlinsky is such an under-recorded gem.

…It's worth following Johnson's approach. Nimbus sound can be generous, but this is well-focused to bring out the soft grain already there, the pulsing strings – viola, then cello intertwining with the utmost clarity. It works out particularly in the Adagio-Più lento. You can see here why Johnson's tempi are unhurried yet in fact work out faster than some. The textural interplay is what comes out perhaps in a work where texture is gesture and expression below the gorgeous autumnal-seeming melodies.

…For there is in the higher reaches of the clarinet a soft-grained wail of despair, also afraid to know itself. Even as the entwined solidarity seems to unfold a last benediction, a touch of human warmth. The team here take it about 20 seconds longer than the Oppenheim/Budapests, whilst Kell and the Busch push it to a terse 8:05.

The chamber gradations, the astonishing intimacy and fresh sonority this performance brings make it a natural acquisition to Brahmsians. You won't hear those textures separate and conjoin so revealingly elsewhere.

Whilst it would have been right to have the Brahms Clarinet Trio, Op 114, no-one will complain when they hear this Brahmsian Clarinet Trio which Zemlinsky took in 1895 to Brahms, who immediately pronounced his delight. One can see why. It starts in the Allegro man non troppo – Andante like Brahms' Clarinet Sonata No. 2; its melody, returning several times, is easily good enough to stand comparison as first-rate Brahms. It's memorable and haunting.

And here's another reason Johnson invoked the cimbalom. It's back. The final Allegro, both tuneful and folksy within a Brahms nimbus – particularly the clarinet – is perky and memorable. Though brief, it contains the profundity Zemlinsky discovered in himself and in this work. There's almost a moto perpetuo feel, as the work ends in a whisper.

The final chords try to recall the late 19^th century, but we're nudging Mahler territory: clear-cut, off-kilter rhythms and tunes, a folk idiom sharpening itself. Zemlinsky's journey from his early master was beginning as his master's life ended.

There's unlikely to be such a fine performance of the Zemlinsky for years, though it deserves many. It's a great reason to buy this disc for the trio alone. However, though there are recent Brahms Clarinet Quintets out there I've not heard, this is sovereign and a natural successor to the great British clarinet tradition; indeed, to most other clarinetists who've committed this work to disc. Its special qualities demand a hearing." Music Web International