Johannes Brahms; Max Reger - Clarinet Quintets (Michael Collins; Escher String Quartet)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms; Max Reger

• Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115
• Reger - Clarinet Quintet in A Major, Op. 146

Michael Collins, clarinet

Escher String Quartet

    Adam Barnett-Hart, violin

    Brendan Speltz, violin

    Pierre Lapointe, viola

    Brook Speltz, cello

Date: 2026

Label: BIS

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Renowned clarinetist and conductor Michael Collins partners with the acclaimed Escher Quartet for a BIS recording featuring two defining masterpieces of the clarinet chamber repertoire: Johannes Brahms's Clarinet Quintet and Max Reger's Clarinet Quintet. Brahms's late-career work stands as an elegiac, nostalgic cornerstone of the genre, balancing emotional directness with melancholy serenity. Reger explicitly modeled his own final composition on the quintets of Mozart and Brahms, expanding traditional tonal boundaries while maintaining structural integrity. Together, these works showcase the rich expressive possibilities of the clarinet and string quartet, capturing a transition from late Romanticism to the early 20th century.

Renowned British clarinetist and conductor Michael Collins (b. 1962) is celebrated as one of the world's most recorded woodwind artists, recognized with an MBE, a Grammy Award, and the Royal Philharmonic Society's Instrumentalist of the Year. Throughout his distinguished career, Collins has held leadership posts with the City of London Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, alongside serving as Principal Guest Artist with the Ulster Orchestra and Artistic Director of Wigmore Soloists. A dedicated champion of contemporary repertoire who has premiered works by John Adams and Elliott Carter, he regularly collaborates with premier international orchestras, elite chamber musicians, and his acclaimed ensemble, London Winds.

Founded in 2005 at the Manhattan School of Music, the New York–based Escher Quartet, named after artist M.C. Escher, is an internationally acclaimed ensemble championed by figures like Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, and the Emerson Quartet. Recipients of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and former BBC New Generation Artists, the quartet serves as Season Artists for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. They perform regularly at prestigious global venues, including Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Known for expressive precision, their celebrated discography on the BIS and Naxos labels features complete quartet cycles by Bartók, Mendelssohn, Janáček, and Zemlinsky, alongside educational initiatives through their non-profit organization, ESQYRE.