Martin Frost: BACH Album Review – Silky-eloquent clarinetist brings freshness and fun | classical music

pProbably every musician worth his salt will turn to JS Bach sooner or later. The German composer died before the clarinet as we know it today was created, but Martin Frost, whose playing is as eloquent and silky as ever, makes the short but sweet selection of this recording very much his own.

There’s an intimate feel to the whole thing, which was recorded at Frost’s studio in the Swedish countryside, where his fellow musicians sleep. The tone is set by the riff from the Goldberg Variations, with a hint of jazz feel thanks to Sebastián Dubé’s bass, and Fröst’s smooth melody on top. Frost duets with his violinist brother Goran on Two Inventions, and with him, a duet on G major Sinfonia; And it’s only fair that a few others will be able to keep up. However, even though this is done at lightning speed, he still adheres to a calm and humble mood.

Theorbo Jonas Nordberg helps Air on the G String circumvent cliché, it’s almost astonishing that Anastasia Kobekina leaves baroque cello lines behind and breaks down Gounod’s full Ave Maria, and Fröst runs through Bach’s Overture in C below. Things finally got a little north when Benny Andersson joined Frost for an echo-heavy version of the Largo from the Keyboard Concerto No. 5. Yes, even Abba also turns to Bach in the finale.