COMPOSERS: Stravinsky etc
LABELS: MSR
ALBUM TITLE: Alaska Pro Musica
WORKS: Trios by Stravinsky etc
PERFORMER: Wolbers (clarinet), Olivares (violin), Smith (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: Classics MS 1230
Alaska Pro Musica is made up of another mixed trio – clarinet, violin and piano. Their disc is bookended by Stravinsky’s brightly pragmatic Soldier’s Tale Suite and Bartók’s inspired triptych Contrasts, in assured if less than ideally incisive performances and recordings. In between come two works written for the ensemble in the 1990s: Ken Benshoof’s jazzily relaxed A Whimsical Solution, and Craig Coray’s Sanctuary, an evocation of wild, lonely places. Anthony Burton