Contrechant

Reto Bieri (clarinet) ECM New Series 476 4404****

Swiss clarinettist Reto Bieri's beautifully delivered selection of solo works for his instrument includes just two pieces that are obvious and well-known: Luciano Berio's songful Liedand Elliott Carter's playful Gra. To these he adds two pieces by his fellow countryman Heinz Holliger ( Contrechantand Rechant), works by Salvatore Sciarrino ( Let Me Die before I Wake), Péter Eötvös ( Derwischtanz) and Gergely Vajda(whose Lightshadow- tremblingis the only inclusion by a composer under 40). The singing of the clarinet here is sometimes calm and direct (as in the Berio), sometimes agitated and multivoiced (as in Holliger) or ethereal and quietly burbling (Sciarrino). The Eötvös (excerpted from a percussion concerto) and the Vajda are more oriented towards dance, the former quite restrained in spite of the dervish of the title, the latter seeming to borrow from folk music. See url.ie/7ebo