Album: Reto Bieri, Contrechant<field name="starRating">fourstar</field>

Swiss clarinettist Reto Bieri features solo here on pieces by challenging composers such as Luciano Berio, Heinz Holliger and Elliott Carter – an austere prospect, but one which reveals an engaging aspect, from the moment Berio's "Lied" (as in "song", rather than untruth) opens with little fluting gulps as Bieri elides between notes. Carter's "Gra" (Polish for "play") has a darting character, while the hypnotic ululations of Salvatore Sciarrino's "Let me die before I wake" operate at the lower limits of audibility. Elsewhere, Holliger's six-part "Contrechant" plunges over three octaves in its first few notes, going on to incorporate tongue-slapped single notes and longer, gurgling tremors among the general flow.

DOWNLOAD THIS Lied; Gra; Let me die before I wake; Contrechant