True Romantics For Clarinet And Piano On Move Records
Two of Australia’s most accomplished musicians, clarinetist Philip Arkinstall and and pianist Kristian Chong, bring new light and lyrical warmth to pieces for clarinet and piano in True Romantics, a new release on Move Records.
Featuring Brahms’s Clarinet Sonatas, Op.120 and Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op.22, transcribed for clarinet by Roger Young, this album explores the late flowering of two intertwined musical souls: Johannes Brahms, whose inspiration was rekindled by the playing of clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, and Clara Schumann, whose influence and artistry shaped Brahms’s creative life. Their music is steeped in tenderness, nostalgia and expressive intimacy.
True Romantics reveals the natural partnership between Arkinstall and Chong, two of Australia’s leading interpreters of Romantic chamber repertoire. Together they capture both the intensity and grace of these works, in the passionate dialogue between clarinet and piano.
Philip Arkinstall is Associate Principal Clarinet of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Winner of the 1999 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Award. His chamber collaborations include the Australian World Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Bern, and the Melbourne Chamber
Orchestra.
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music with Piers Lane and Christopher Elton, and the University of Melbourne with Stephen McIntyre, Kristian Chong teaches piano and chamber music at the University of Melbourne. He is a Yamaha Artist and winner of both the Symphony Australia Young Performers Award (keyboard) and the Australian National Piano Award. Chong is one of Australia’s most versatile and sought after musicians, performing widely as soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist. He has appeared as concerto soloist with major orchestras including the Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, as well as ensembles in the UK, New Zealand and China
This recording is the first Australian interpretation on record of this intensely Romantic repertoire, offering a fresh perspective on works long dominated by European and American performances, and affirming the strength and independence of Australia’s classical music voice.
