Labor Clarinet Trio & Cello Sonata 2

[Alan Howe]

Two late works featuring a part for piano left hand, forthcoming from Capriccio:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/nsemble-ris-trio-fuer-klarinette-violoncello-und-klavier/hnum/10836389

[Gareth Vaughan]

Nice. I am very fond of Labor's music. This exploration by Capriccio of his chamber works is interesting and enterprising. I think this is the 3rd disk they have released to date.

[John Boyer]

...and there is a two-disc set of the Clarinet Quintet, clarinet trios, and Quintet in D along the way (Capriccio C5473, but still not listed for sale).

Returning to the present disc, I listened to it today.  It's exactly what you would expect a cello sonata and clarinet trio by Labor to sound like, so the music recommends itself, with good performances too.

On the negative side, the engineers favor a very close-up sound, which lacks air and exaggerates the bass, though the latter is easily tamed by your equalizer.  This is especially noticeable in the Cello Sonata, which reminded me of the Mendoes/Lim recording of the Raff cello music for Toccata.  I pulled that out for comparison and am happy to say that the Labor recording sounds better.  While too close for comfort, the instruments in the present recording sound natural enough, unlike the Raff, where the cello sounded as if it were stuffed with cotton.  The sound picture improves the farther you are from your stereo, which is not meant sarcastically but just to say that the added physical distance adds what is missing in recorded distance, though it also means headphone listening may not work.  The perspective for the trio is better.

Nowhere on the labeling are these billed as works for piano left-hand.  The pianist explains this in the booklet: he uses his right hand from time to time.  So, in the spirit of truth in advertising, they are listed as just for piano rather than piano left-hand, which in fact is true of the manuscripts, too.  The pianist explains the decision to use his right hand in some detail in this note at the Ensemble Tris website:

https://www.ensemble-tris.info/en/news/?news=636

This is a fair explanation.  We hear the music as written, with neither alterations to improve playability nor hand-damaging gymnastics.