SONUS Pierre Pichler & Albert Frantz

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73:
• 1Schumann: Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73 - I - Zart und mit Ausdruck03:01
• 2Schumann: Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73 - II - Lebhaft, leicht03:26
• 3Schumann: Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73 - III - Rasch und mit Feuer03:57
• Alfred Prinz (1930 - 2014): Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93:
• 4Prinz: Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93 - I - Allegretto grazioso ma ben marcato01:10
• 5Prinz: Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93 - II - Langsam sehr frei02:33
• 6Prinz: Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93 - III - Tempo di Valse grotesque01:07
• 7Prinz: Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93 - IV - Lento tranquillo01:56
• 8Prinz: Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 93 - V - Sehr lebhaft01:22
• Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826): Grand Duo concertant for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 48:
• 9Weber: Grand Duo concertant for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 48 - I - Allegro con fuoco06:27
• 10Weber: Grand Duo concertant for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 48 - II - Andante con moto05:23
• 11Weber: Grand Duo concertant for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 48 - III - Rondo: Allegro06:53
• Alban Berg (1885 - 1935): Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5:
• 12Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 - I - Mäßig01:29
• 13Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 - II - Sehr langsam01:36
• 14Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 - III - Sehr rasch01:07
• 15Berg: Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 - IV - Langsam02:57
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat major, Op. 120/2:
• 16Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat major, Op. 120/2 - I - Allegro amabile07:33
• 17Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat major, Op. 120/2 - II - Allegro appassionato05:13
• 18Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat major, Op. 120/2 - III - Andante con moto – Allegro07:04
• Total Runtime01:04:14

Info for SONUS

The Austrian clarinettist Pierre Pichler, who has also made a name for himself as a conductor of numerous orchestras, unites on his album "SONUS" together with the pianist Albert Frantz works for clarinet and piano from the "golden age" of the clarinet (which one could proclaim roughly since Mozart's works for clarinet) to the 20th century. Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke op. 73 are probably among the best-known clarinet works of the Romantic period, but Carl Maria von Weber also wrote numerous "classics" for the clarinet, including the Grand Duo concertant for clarinet and piano op. 48. The Austrian clarinettist Alfred Prinz (1930-2014), with whom Pierre Pichler was still in personal contact, was a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for over half a century, and was also active as a composer of numerous works, in addition to orchestral works, chamber music and songs. His Five Pieces op. 93 are partly dance-like, partly capricious, partly elegantly flattering; in an immediately comprehensible, tonal musical language, they present small character images that reconcile the joy of playing with the joy of listening. This was not Alban Berg's primary aim in his Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano op. 5 of 1913, but although the conventional major-minor system is already suspended here, they can also be described as character pictures. Finally, the Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Clarinet op. 120/2 by Johannes Brahms, who only began to devote more time to this instrument towards the end of his creative period.

Pierre Pichler, clarinet
Albert Frantz, piano

Pierre Pichler
Many famous conductors began their musical careers as instrumentalists. This gives them the advantage of knowing exactly what an orchestral musician expects of a conductor.

It was the conductor Guiseppe Sinopoli, who sadly died much too young, who encouraged Pierre Pichler in his desire to conduct as well. The famous Italian maestro led the International Orchestral Institute of the Vienna Philharmonic, which performed in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, when he suggested to the still-teenaged solo clarinetist during rehearsals for Brahms’s Fourth Symphony that he consider studying the art of orchestral conducting due to his exceptional musical talent and charisma. Sinopoli could hardly have known that this was Pichler’s very goal.

Although Pierre Pichler already knew very well as a child that he wanted to become a conductor, he was initially so thrilled by his grandfather’s activities as a clarinetist and kapellmeister that he wanted him to teach him to play the clarinet already at age eight. He turned out to be gifted enough not only to go on to win all pertinent competitions, but also to be admitted to the solo clarinet class of the solo clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Peter Schmidl, at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, at the age of only fifteen. Barely two years later, Pichler was already called upon to play in the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, with such success that, in addition to many opera performances, he soon performed innumerable concerts and tours with the Vienna Philharmonic (including Japan, USA and South America). At age nineteen, he was invited to participate in the Pacific Music Festival, founded by Leonard Bernstein. It thus became possible for him to observe the great art of conducting up close early on, from performing under the baton of the top maestros (Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pierre Boulez, Christian Thielemann, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel and Christoph Eschenbach).

Nonetheless, he remained true to his primary instrument and completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with unanimous distinction. In addition to his performances as soloist and chamber musician (CD recording The Art of the Clarinet with Peter Schmidl on Naxos), he was regularly invited to perform as soloist with all the Viennese orchestras and numerous major international ensembles (Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Frankfurt Radio Symphony). Pichler was employed as solo clarinetist at the Graz Opera.

Upon the suggestion of the renowned clarinetist Alfred Prinz, he also performed as soloist at Ohio State University in Columbus and Indiana University in Bloomington. In the Malaysian Orchestra, where he was solo clarinetist from 2013 to 2015, his playing was viewed as rather sensational: With its German system and completely different tone color, the Viennese clarinet had up to then been considered irreconcilable with the internationally used Böhm clarinets, yet Pichler helped to dispel this prejudice. Inspired by his work with great maestros and mindful of Sinopoli’s vote of confidence, Pierre Pichler studied the craft of conducting in masterclasses with Prof. Uros Lajovic, student of the legendary Hans Swarowsky, as well as with the renowned conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula. From 2016 to 2019, Pierre Pichler worked as musical assistant to Philippe Jordan, who demonstrated his confidence in him by entrusting him with conducting rehearsals of the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra). Then came corona and later the Russia crisis, which brought to an end his close collaboration with the politically divisive yet undoubtedly great conductor Valery Gergiev.

In recent years he has been increasingly active as a conductor, directing, for example, a new production of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro at the Tirana Opera. He conducted the gala concert for Mozart’s birthday at the Estates Theatre in Prague with the orchestra of the Prague National Theatre. In the 2021–2022 season, Pierre Pichler was invited to conduct numerous concerts in Canada, Czechia, German and Japan. Recently his collaboration with members of the Berlin Philharmonic has intensified, including with solo clarinetist Wenzel Fuchs and horn player Andrej Zust, whom he accompanied in several concerts with different orchestras playing Richard Strauss’s First Horn Concerto.

Pichler has a broad range of interests. He promotes contemporary composers, whose works he incorporates into his repertoire. He also ardently supports young listeners, believing that youth should be gently introduced to classical music, which is slowly disappearing from today’s educational system. It was for this reason that he created a concert series for children in 2021 with the orchestra he founded, Musica Iuvenum Wien, tailored to the needs and capabilities of young listeners between four and twelve years of age. These children’s concerts include Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and the lives of W. A. Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler, incorporated into a story moderated by the conductor.

Pierre Pichler is a highly versatile concert and opera conductor. His repertoire is broad, encompassing works of the Viennese Classical and Romantic eras, music of the Strauss dynasty, the Second Viennese School, through to contemporary music.

Booklet for SONUS