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5
Around Baermann
Maryse Legault, clarinet; Gili Loftus, fortepiano
Leaf music, 2023
Upcoming clarinetist Maryse Legault is specialized in period instruments. She released her first album, Around Baermann, on the Leaf Music label. The album is “a love letter to the tumultuous music of the early nineteenth century,” she wrote on her website. According to Legault, the album is the culmination of years of research and a testimony of her unshakeable desire to perform recitals that feature period instruments.
Pianist Gili Loftus, Legault’s friend and collaborator for over 10 years, has joined her on this recording, playing the fortepiano. The album begins with Silvana Variations by Carl Maria von Weber, a go-to composer for clarinet repertoire. Legault is wonderfully noted for her virtuoso qualities, putting lots of movement in the music and not missing a single note.
Heinrich Baermann is put in the spotlight with Introduction and Polonaise, Op. 25. Unlike Weber, the energy in this Baermann work is more impassioned and less affectionate, but the listening experience is all the more thrilling. The same can be said for the Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major by Mendelssohn. Dramatic rests and intensity in the first movement of this sonata will leave listeners breathless. The Baermann Nocturno adds more drama and vibrancy to this album.
Lastly, Legault has put a 19th-century woman in the spotlight. Like many—if not all—of her female counterparts at the time, this woman remained in the shadow of men for too long. Legault was making a strong statement by featuring the Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano by Caroline Schleicher-Krähmer on this album. Around Baermann ends with a return to Weber and his Grand Duo Concertante, Op. 48.
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