Julian Bliss & Carducci Quartet

The rich and harmonious blend of clarinet and strings is alive to human joys and sadness and the clarinet’s nimble agility and vocal qualities are nowhere better captured than in two of the Romantic era’s best-loved works for that evergreen instrumental combination.

Weber the opera composer, and Brahms the symphonist are reflected in two chamber music gems, with bravura public display set alongside whispered confidences to trusted friends. Weber’s soloist gurgles, frolics and declaims but in Brahms, a boisterous gypsy dance acts as a counterweight to a pervading tender melancholy, a delicately spun succession of songs without words reflecting the dark tones of Beethoven’s imposing quartet. It’s a programme made for longstanding collaborators - the charismatic, versatile Julian Bliss, deeply and intuitively attuned to his quartet companions.