Amabile

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

Trio for Clarinet, Cello & Piano in E flat, Op. 44 (Farrenc)

i Andante – Allegro moderator
ii Adagio
iii Minuetto
iv Allegro

Louise Farrenc was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a wide variety of piano music.

Johannes Brahms (1883-1897)

Trio for Clarinet, Cello & Piano in A minor, Op. 114 (Brahms)

i Allegro
ii Adagio
iii Andantino gracioso
iv Allegro

The Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114, is one of four chamber works composed by Johannes Brahms featuring the clarinet as a primary instrument. It was written in the summer of 1891 for the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. It is considered by scholars as part of a rebirth for the composer who in 1890 declared his String Quintet in G major to be his final work.

Performers

Lesley Schatzberger - Clarinet

Lesley Schatzberger has spent much of her career as principal clarinet with the English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. She was also a member of Stockhausen’s chamber group, taking part in many performances and recordings with him. Chamber music recordings include the clarinet quintets by Mozart and Brahms, Mozart’s quintet for clarinet, basset horn and strings, the two Konzertstücke for clarinet, basset horn and piano by Mendelssohn, Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock, and Spohr’s Six German Songs. Lesley teaches at the University of York, by which she was awarded an honorary doctorate. She has also been awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Northern College of Music.

Nicola Tait Baxter - Cello

Nicola Tait Baxter studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Lionel Handy, winning prizes for both solo and chamber music and graduating with a first-class honours degree. Further scholarships took her to Germany and London, studying with cellists Johannes Goritzki and William Pleeth. At the age of 24 she gave her first solo broadcast for Radio 3 and she joined the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra. For 5 years she was cellist in the renowned Fitzwilliam String Quartet, performing and giving masterclasses throughout Europe, Russia, North America and South Africa.

Very much in demand as a soloists and chamber musician, her repertoire includes most of the major ‘cello concertos and she has performed the 6 solo suites by Bach in festivals in Scotland, England and Germany and has appeared as soloist in Switzerland and the USA. Nicola is also a rather active chamber music player, regularly performing with her pianist Mina Miletic, Amabile Clarinet Trio and the Bochmann String Trio. More details can be found on her website.

Nicola holds teaching posts at Harrow and Merchant Taylors’ schools and has co-founded Leading Notes Chamber Music courses, for aspiring young string players. She has also written and published Five Fantasy Pieces for solo cello. A nature lover to the core, Nicola lives in leafy Amersham with her family of boys, cats and hens!

Paul Nicholson - Piano

Paul Nicholson’s musical career has ranged from employment at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies – where he coached and accompanied alongside its co-founder, Peter Pears – to solo performance, and recording and directing with groups such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. His recordings for Hyperion have included Handel’s Organ Concertos (directed by Roy Goodman), and his Eight Harpsichord Suites of 1720 – this has been the reviewer’s choice in BBC Radio 3’s ‘Building a Library’. He is also an Anglican Priest – now retired from parish ministry – and is increasingly returning to chamber music with piano.