Nielsen - Grieg Daniel Ottensamer

• Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931): Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57:
• 1 Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57: I. Allegretto un poco 08:21
• 2 Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57: II. Poco adagio 05:03
• 3 Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57: III. Allegro non troppo 07:02
• 4 Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57: IV. Allegro vivace 04:08
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 43:
• 5 Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: No. 5, Erotic (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:36
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 62:
• 6 Lyric Pieces, Op. 62: No. 5, Phantom (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:44
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 71:
• 7 Lyric Pieces, Op. 71: No. 7, Remembrances (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 01:42
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 54:
• 8 Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: No. 2, Gangar (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:06
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 47:
• 9 Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: No. 3, Melody (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 03:05
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 54:
• 10 Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: No. 3, March of the Dwarfs (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:55
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 43:
• 11 Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: No. 3, In my Native Land (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:05
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 68:
• 12 Lyric Pieces, Op. 68: No. 4, Evening in the Mountains (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 01:51
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 54:
• 13 Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: No. 4, Notturno (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 03:21
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 57:
• 14 Lyric Pieces, Op. 57: No. 6, Homesickness (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 03:19
• Lyric Pieces, Op. 65:
• 15 Lyric Pieces, Op. 65: No. 6, Wedding Day in Troldhaugen (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 05:18
• Carl Nielsen: Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano, CNW 66:
• 16 Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano, CNW 66 04:17
• Edvard Grieg: Last Spring, Op. 33, No. 2 (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler):
• 17 Last Spring, Op. 33, No. 2 (Arr. for Clarinet & Piano by Ottensamer / Traxler) 02:16
• Total Runtime 01:02:09

Info for Nielsen - Grieg

The Clarinet Concerto by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen is one of the absolute pillars of the repertoire for clarinet and orchestra, which is why every clarinettist must have played it at least once in their musical life. The Austrian clarinettist Daniel Ottensamer, however, has very special memories of this work, because in 2009 he also won the important "Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition" in Denmark with this concerto. Ottensamer was 23 years young at the time - and had long since held one of the most prestigious positions: in 2006, at the age of only 20, he was appointed principal clarinettist of the Vienna Philharmonic. And it was with this "his" orchestra that he played Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto under the baton of Ádám Fischer in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal in 2014.

With the live recording of the concerto, Ottensamer now also opens his current album on Sony Classical, which is dedicated to the music of the far north. In addition to Nielsen's concerto, he can also be heard performing his Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano. The clarinettist, who has also been awarded an OPUS Klassik, will be accompanied by his long-time piano partner Christoph Traxler. With him, Ottensamer has also arranged "Lyric Pieces" by Edvard Grieg for clarinet and piano for the album.

"The Nordic music of Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen, as well as the Scandinavian folk music that served each of these composers as the basis for their masterpieces, have fascinated me since my earliest youth," Daniel Ottensamer tells us. "By juxtaposing the complex clarinet concerto by Carl Nielsen with the "Lyric Pieces" by Edvard Grieg, which are deeply touching due to their simplicity and plainness, I would like to shed light on the different facets of Nordic music as well as the associated different timbres of the clarinet."

The Dane Carl Nielsen wrote his Clarinet Concerto in 1928, three years before his death. Nielsen relied on chamber orchestration, with prominent bassoon and horn passages. The snare drum is the most important instrument alongside the solo clarinet, fuelling the battle of the keys with wild rhythmic outbursts. The technical demands on the clarinettist turn out to be enormously high. The Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano, on the other hand, is an early work by Nielsen. Nielsen was only between 16 and 18 years old when he demonstrated his early compositional talent with this brilliant fantasy. Of Grieg's total of 66 piano pieces, which have become famous under the title "Lyric Pieces", Ottensamer and Christoph Traxler have arranged 12 pieces. And Daniel Ottensamer and his clarinet roamed through these sometimes folkloric, sometimes melancholic worlds of sound with somnambulistic and heart-warming beauty.

Daniel Ottensamer, clarinet
Christoph Traxler, piano
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Adam Fischer, conductor

Daniel Ottensamer
has been principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera since 2009. He is a prizewinner of the most prestigious international competitions, as the “Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition” in Denmark 2009.

As a soloist he is regularly invited to perform with renowned orchestras, among them the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Adam Fischer,etc.

As a chamber musician he has worked together with musicians such as Angelika Kirchschlager, Barbara Bonney, Thomas Hampson, Bobby McFerrin, Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky, etc.

He is member of "The Philharmonics" and founding member of "the clarinotts" together with his brother Andreas and his father Ernst (all three principal clarinetists of the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra). Daniel Ottensamer recorded his Debut CD with SONY-Classical playing the Clarinet-Concerto of W.A. Mozart. In 2016 the "Deutsche Grammophon" released the Debut-CD of "the clarinotts". A recording of the J.Brahms and CM.v. Weber clarinet sonatas was published at "Classic Concert Records".

This album contains no booklet.