Klarinet Archive - Posting 000577.txt from 1996/01

From: Everett J Austin <BrendaA624@-----.COM>
Subj: Kell again
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 1996 02:32:03 -0500

A recent trip to the record shop leads me to follow up on an earlier
discussion of Reginald Kell, well-known to many and a new discovery to some.
For those not familiar with his playing, some reissues of some of his
recordings are out on CD, with some selections on Clarinet Classics, a Brahms
Quintet with the Busch Quartet on EMI and some Mozart, Weber, Brahms and
Holbrooke on Testament.
I confess to having many recordings of the Brahms Trio Op 114, but I suspect
that the even the most inflexible enemy of clarinet vibrato would accede to
the Kell/Kentner/Pini recording of this on the English label, Testament SBT
1002 (rec 1941). It is an extremely sensitive and beautiful blend in an
intimate chamber music style quite appropriate to the piece. Kell's playing
is a good illustration of how natural and tasteful vibrato and judicious
rubato (in the literal sense of the word: robbed- but then returned in time
to maintain the overall rhythmic flow) can be. His tone is anything but thin
and sounds quite good even on this 78 transfer. This trio is the best thing I
have heard of Kell and surely one of the best recordings of this piece in
general. The Holbrooke Quintet on the same disc has a good sense of drama
and lyricism, making one wonder why the piece is not as well known. The
liner notes are also interesting and even quote Kell here and there (eg,
"...conductors as a whole are less competent than orchestral musicians-and
that's saying something...")

Another CD that I bought recently is on Camarata (Japan) 30CM-370 with Karl
Leister, Milan Turkovic and F Bognar. Among other things it has a very crisp
and convincng rendition of the Glinka Trio Pathetique. A barely legible ad
with atiny reproduction of a CD label was attached to this CD and seems to
read Karl Leister SINGS Opera Arias: is it true?

Everett Austin
Fairfax, CA