Hi-Res Downloads

44.1kHz/24-bit FLAC, Rodenstein Records ROD K05 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

See here: this could be either a classical album or a jazz one, so blurred are the lines in this unusual, challenging recording. Led by Martin Albrecht on clarinet and bass clarinet, the quartet – Daniel Prandl plays piano, Dirik Schilgen drums and Katharina Gross bass – improvises and interprets around the works of Scriabin, with some of the originals played by pianist Asli Kilic, and joined by the occasional foray into electronica and sound effects, as on ‘Never Ending Story’. OK, so it all sounds a bit high-falutin’ – one track, ‘Rausch’, may well have you stifling giggles – but strangely it works, the musicians producing a set which rewards the attention with a fascinating series of pieces. It’s recorded and mixed by Markus Born and Ekhard Steiger, and produced by Albrecht. I’m not sure this has given me any greater insight into Scriabin, but it’s been fun exploring. AE

Sound quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

This may have the ‘limited’ 20kHz bandwidth of a 44.1kHz recording but it’s only during the densest passages [trk 7 ‘Hetzjagd’, see Graph] that the clarinet and percussion really punch through and occupy the fullest range. PM