JEANNE-LOUISE FARRENC: Nonette; Clarinet Trio – Consortium Classicum/ Dieter Klocker, clarinet/ Peter Horr, cello/ Werner Genuit, piano – Divox CDX-29205 [Distr. by Naxos] 57:15 ****:
This is a delightful disc of chamber music by the 19th century French composer Louise Farrenc. Born into an artistic family, Farrenc started piano lessons at age six and later studied piano with Johann Hummel and Ignaz Moscheles. At age 15, she studied composition with Anton Reicha. At the time, men dominated the professional domain of opera and symphony, so Farrenc started writing short piano pieces and chamber works that were primarily performed in home concerts. In the 1840s she composed three symphonies that were performed by well-known conductors and twice won the Prix Chartier. She held the position of Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory for thirty years, but for ten years was paid less than her male colleagues. She’s a great example of female composers who have been unjustly forgotten.
The famous violinist Joseph Joachim performed at the premiere of the thirty-minute Nonettefor strings and winds in 1850. It’s written in a symphonic style with many solo opportunities for the nine instruments. Its melodic fecundity and happy emotional presence are hard to resist. If you like Mendelssohn’s Octet, you’ll like the Nonette. The performance and recording are superb. The Clarinet Trio, written four years later, is a stronger work. Harmonically and melodically it’s more intellectually complex without losing any of its radiant melodic qualities. The lovely and memorable adagio is the emotional center of this beautiful work. Clarinetist Dieter Klocker and his colleagues play divinely and the sound of the 1992-93 recordings is superb. The Clarinet Trio would be a superb work for more clarinetists to champion. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for that to happen. This CD is a winner!
— Robert Moon
