And still they come, whether from clarinet or Brahms’s approved alternative, the viola. Each recent version has a caring quality of its own, as if in personal tribute to the septuagenarian composer on the centenary of his death. Choice may reside in ‘extras’ (if any), and on this acceptably recorded disc we’re given not the expected clarinet arrangement of this or that, but Max Reger’s rarely heard re-creation of the Vier ernste Gesange for piano alone. Space precludes detailed description of their metamorphosis. Suffice it to say that to me they spoke as eloquently as any of Brahms’s later keyboard miniatures – thanks in part to deeply-felt playing from Claudius Tanski (author of some searching accompanying notes).
It was this artist who impressed me as the more communicative in the two sonatas, conveying strength as well as tenderness without overpowering Dieter Klocker’s clarinet. Both works are keenly characterized and contrasted, though I would question so fast a finale to the first, and one or two unspecified liberties of tempo to achieve maximum mood variety in the (finely balanced) variations concluding the E flat work. While never doubting the clarinettist’s musical intent, I nevertheless found myself having to accept a somewhat limited range of dynamics and colour. This was brought home by the intimately subtle nuances of phrasing in the piano range, and the contrasting potency of climaxes, that we hear from Kalman Berkes, whose liquidity nearly persuades you that clarinettists never need to take in breath. With Jeno Jando as partner, this Naxos issue remains the outstanding centenary tribute for me – and it’s all yours at super-bargain price.'