Ensemble Liaison: Bruch, Brahms, Beethoven

The jacket cover on Ensemble Liaison’s new recording shows the musicians floating on air. They have a similarly elevating effect on the trios for clarinet, cello and piano by Beethoven, Brahms and Bruch that constitute the disc’s repertoire

Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat major, Op 11, begins at a frisky clip, its first-movement marking of Allegro con brio given full, fleet consideration. Clarinettist David Griffiths, cellist Svetlana Bogosavljevic and pianist Timothy Young emphasise the score’s Classicism, shaping the score with trim and tender assurance. The Adagio’s lyricism enjoys nuanced definition, and the ensemble manages to be both giddy and elegant in the finale’s buoyant variations

As they do in the Beethoven, Griffiths and Bogosavljevic keep vibrato in check in Brahms’ Trio in A minor, Op 114, while applying ample warmth to the poetic writing. With Young maintaining sure balances, the performers sensitively limn the composer’s distinctive blend of Classical and Romantic elements. Their generous fire and propulsion in the last movement stand in contrast to the autumnal beauty and charm of the central movements.

Ensemble Liaison’s artistry is so attuned to animated and songful gestures that a listener may regret that only four of Bruch’s Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op 83, are offered here. Even so, the musicians are supremely refined – and controlled: listen to Griffiths’ exceptional command of soft dynamics – as they revel in the wistful, rapturous and proud writing.

So, would it be too much to ask that they perform the other half of the collection on their next disc?

New from Tall Poppies is an engaging disc by clarinet trio Ensemble Liaison, the chamber music group in residence at Monash University in Melbourne which brings together the talents of clarinettist David Griffiths, pianist Timothy Young and cellist Svetlana Bogosavljevic.

The repertoire for this combination of instruments is not huge, and in fact one of the pieces on this disc – Beethoven’s Op 11 trio – although originally written for clarinet, is more familiar to audiences in the form of the composer’s later adaptation for violin.

Brahms’s dramatic and often sombre trio, on the other hand, leads no such double life and was written towards the end of his life.

The other composer on this album, Max Bruch, is best known for his first violin concerto, but he also wrote eight pieces for his clarinettist son. These works are not usually performed in their entirety and it’s up to the performers how many they choose and which order they are played in.
On this album Ensemble Liaison ends on a serene note with a nocturne.

All in all it’s a satisfying program of music and finely played by this young Melbourne group.