Berg ∙ Brahms ∙ Poulenc ∙ Schumann: Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano Michel Portal & Michel Dalberto

• Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Sonata for Clarinet and Piano :
• 1 Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano : I. Allegro tristamente 05:45
• 2 Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano : II. Romanza 05:02
• 3 Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano : III. Allegro con fuoco 03:29
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Phantasiestücke Op. 73 :
• 4 Schumann: Phantasiestücke Op. 73 : I. Zart und mit Ausdruck 04:07
• 5 Schumann: Phantasiestücke Op. 73 : II. Lebhaft, leicht 04:14
• 6 Schumann: Phantasiestücke Op. 73 : III. Rasch und mit Feuer 04:32
• Drei Romanzen Op. 94 :
• 7 Schumann: Drei Romanzen Op. 94 : No. 1, Romanze in A Minor 04:01
• 8 Schumann: Drei Romanzen Op. 94 : No. 2, Romanze in A Major 04:37
• 9 Schumann: Drei Romanzen Op. 94 : No. 3, Romanze in A Minor 05:11
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major Op. 120 :
• 10 Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major Op. 120 : I. Allegro amabile 08:55
• 11 Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major Op. 120 : II. Allegro appassionato 05:33
• 12 Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major Op. 120 : III. Andante con moto - Allegro 07:13
• Alban Berg (1885 - 1935): Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano :
• 13 Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano : I. Maßig 01:25
• 14 Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano : II. Sehr langsam 01:47
• 15 Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano : III. Sehr rasch 01:06
• 16 Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano : IV. Langsam 02:46
• Total Runtime 01:09:43

Info for Berg ∙ Brahms ∙ Poulenc ∙ Schumann: Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano

This album takes us on a journey through several different eras of Romanticism, from its origins to its twilight, from Schumann to Poulenc by way of Brahms and Berg. It is also the story of a long friendship and artistic collaboration . . . A declared enemy of anything that smacks of routine, the clarinettist Michel Portal looks after his unpredictability the way an astronaut looks after his oxygen supply. His almost organic curiosity, his need for exchange, reacts here to an exciting encounter with the pianist Michel Dalberto. The clarinet sonatas by Brahms and Poulenc, Schumann’s Phantasiestücke and Berg’s Four Pieces are all seen in a new perspective at La Dolce Volta. Every Michel Portal recording is a passport to wisdom, a term that for him goes hand in hand with speed, joy and exultation. Eternal youth!

Michel Portal, clarinet
Michel Dalberto, piano

Michel Portal
was born in Bayonne and discovered the clarinet as a child. Immediately after leaving school, he completed classical training as a clarinettist. In 1958, he was awarded first place at the Paris Conservatory of Classical Music and joined the Musique Vivante ensemble. He is known as a studio and live musician and arranger for Édith Piaf ("Milord"), among others. Through his collaboration with the bebop artist Dizzy Gillespie, Portal ultimately discovered his love of jazz. Through further jazz collaborations with Jef Gilson, Joachim Kühn, Anthony Braxton and his improvisation quartet New Phonic Art, among others, Michel Portal has been one of France's most renowned free jazz artists since the early 1970s. In the years that followed, Portal wrote numerous film scores (including "Inspector Lavardin", "The Dogs" and "The Machine"), published over 60 works with various renowned artists and is still active as an interpreter of new music and classical clarinet concertos.

Michel Dalberto
Born in 1955 to a non-musical family, Michel Dalberto began playing on a toy piano at the age of 3 ½, made his first public appearance at 5 ½ and entered the Paris Conservatoire at 13 to study with Vlado Perlemuter. Today he is regarded as a direct heir of the great French Piano School founded by Alfred Cortot, who considered Perlemuter to be one of his favorite students. Dalberto’s career started after winning two of the most coveted international competitions: the Clara Haskil Prize in 1975 and 1st Prize of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1978. Major festivals such as Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein or Vienna Festwochen and prominent orchestras such as Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Roma Santa-Cecilia, Tokyo NHK and Vienna Symphony have invited him with conductors including Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Erich Leinsdorf, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur and Daniele Gatti. His vast repertoire is reflected by an impressive discography with over 45 Cds on Erato, Warner, RCA, Denon, La Dolce Volta and Aparté labels. Of note, he is the only living pianist who has recorded the complete piano music of Franz Schubert. He has also played and conducted all of the Mozart Concertos. He is currently recording for the label La Dolce Volta which released in the fall of 2019 a double CD featuring five of the most famous piano Sonatas by Beethoven. The album received widely acclaimed reviews, including the rare “Artist of the Year” award given by the magazine Classica. In May 2022 he released an all-Liszt CD (including the B-minor Sonata) recorded at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which the daily paper « Le Monde » featured in a full-page interview. Respected as an outstanding chamber music partner, Michel Dalberto has shared the stage and collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned musicians, including Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Renaud Capuçon and Lynn Harrell. Teaching is paramount for him – After being on the faculty of the Imola Accademia Pianistica (2006- 2009) and at the Paris Conservatory (2011-2022), he has been invited at the new Yehudi Menuhin School in Qingdao to teach Piano and Chamber Music. He is also Visiting Professor at the Weimar Hochschule and gives regular Masterclasses at the Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Paris. The French Government awarded him the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 1996. An expert in gastronomy and wine, he is also an avid skier, a certified scuba-diver and passionate fan of vintage cars and auto racing.

Booklet for Berg ∙ Brahms ∙ Poulenc ∙ Schumann: Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano