Letters From Quarantine

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Seeing as this was recorded at home, it’s a beautifully distinct ‘live’ sound – every breath accounted for. Travasso showcases the versatility of the clarinet in a contrasting selection. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2021, 3 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 19th Feb 2021
Catalogue No: ODRCD411
Label: Odradek Records
Length: 51 minutes

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Tomasi, H F: Sonatine Attique

Work length7:29

$3.00

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Rui Travasso

I. Giocoso

Track length1:22

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II. Lent

Track length3:40

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III. Giocoso très rythmé

Track length2:27

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Jacob, G: Five Pieces for solo clarinet

Work length8:26

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Rui Travasso

I. Preamble

Track length1:42

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II. Waltz

Track length1:13

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III. Homage to J.S.B.

Track length0:48

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IV. Soliloquy

Track length2:06

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V. Scherzo and Trio

Track length2:37

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Escher: Sonata for clarinet solo

Work length12:11

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Rui Travasso

I. Molto tranquillo

Track length3:06

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II. Vivo

Track length3:43

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III. Comodo

Track length5:22

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Koch, E von: Monologue No. 3 for clarinet

Work length5:13

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Rui Travasso

I. Andante sostenuto

Track length1:57

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II. Allegro vivace

Track length3:16

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Kovács, B: Hommage à M. de Falla

Work length3:11

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Rui Travasso

Ødegaard: Antiphona V, ‘Ave Maria’

Work length5:54

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Rui Travasso

Azevedo, S: Sonatina para clarinete solo

Work length8:11

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Rui Travasso

I. Allegro

Track length3:09

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II. In a not quite so relaxed mood

Track length3:43

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III. Allegro

Track length1:19

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Mattaliano: Zeta World

Work length1:17

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Rui Travasso

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The pandemic has compelled artists to find new ways of channelling their creativity. Portuguese clarinettist Rui Travasso turned the experience of isolation into something positive with his lockdown recording of solo clarinet music, an extraordinary and powerful achievement.

As Rui Travasso writes in his Artist Statement, a feature of the album booklet: "This album was recorded entirely in my house during the confinement caused by COVID-19. It is, perhaps inevitably, a solo album because so much of life during a pandemic is conducted in isolation, without company or collaboration. The situation is analogous with being unjustly imprisoned and writing letters to those on the outside; an urgent need to communicate with those we cannot see but whom we can sense are there and receptive to listening."

The clarinet is an instrument of real versatility, its mellow, woody timbre ranging flexibly between plangent melancholy, creamy lyricism and jaunty humour. These qualities have been most famously explored in accompanied works especially concertos and quintets but the solo clarinet repertoire offers a wealth of interesting music in which composers have sought to address the challenges of writing for an unaccompanied instrument by harnessing the clarinet's unique qualities and highlighting its rich colours.

The album features a range of relatively recent repertoire. French composer Henri Tomasi's 'Sonatine Attique' is said to have been inspired by a night under the Greek stars near the Parthenon in Athens. The clarinet's agile, jovial side is contrasted with sinuous, haunting passages. We hear a finely-crafted 'Sonata for Clarinet Solo' by Dutch composer Rudolf Escher, who was influenced by the music of Debussy, Ravel and Mahler, and the apparently effortless 'Monolog No. 3' by Swedish composer Erland von Koch, who was influenced by Bartók, Sibelius, Grieg and Hindemith.

There are more overt tributes to other composers, too: Gordon Jacob's 'Five Pieces for Solo Clarinet' include a lively, affectionate tribute to J.S. Bach, and contemporary Hungarian composer Béla Kóvacs is known for his set of 'Hommages' to an array of different composers, from which we hear the dazzling 'Hommage à M. Falla'. Other contemporary works include the chant-based 'Antiphona V, Ave Maria' by Norwegian composer Henrik Ødegaard, and the intricate 'Sonatina' by Portuguese composer Sérgio Azevedo. The Italian Giovanni Mattaliano is first and foremost a clarinettist, and his 'Zeta World' is the perfect conclusion to a recital of solo clarinet music: a succinct piece of breathtaking technique and irresistible good humour.

Reviews

May 2021

Seeing as this was recorded at home, it’s a beautifully distinct ‘live’ sound – every breath accounted for. Travasso showcases the versatility of the clarinet in a contrasting selection.

Letters From Quarantine

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