Born from the frustration of COVID lockdowns, French clarinettist Raphaël Sévère’s album of two Mozart masterpieces marks a return from what he calls artistic solitary confinement. A sense of sunniness and gratitude suffuses Sévère’s account of the Clarinet Concerto’s opening movement, while the finale has an upbeat perkiness which can’t fail to lift the spirits. In the “Adagio”, Sévère’s mellow, velvety tone suits the beauty and poignancy of the music perfectly, as it does in the equivalent movement of the Clarinet Quintet. In the variations of the Quintet’s finale, Sévère and the Quatuor Modigliani radiate a contented relaxation, capping an irresistibly life-enhancing recital.
More By Raphaël Sévère
Featured On
- Quatuor Ébène & Antoine Tamestit
- Michael Dussek
- Orkester Nord & Martin Wåhlberg
- Chiaroscuro Quartet
- Jean-Baptiste Doulcet, David Kadouch, Claire-Marie Le Guay & Jonas Vitaud
- Christina Landshamer, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Bernhard Forck