Duo Brillaner: Clarinettist Shirley Brill and Pianist Jonathan Aner
February 4, 2010
At 13 years of age, Jonathan Aner heard Sharon Kam playing the clarinet and immediately fell in love with the sound - so much so, that he wanted give up playing the piano for the clarinet. Fortunately, he didn't do that, but he did encounter another clarinetist some years later: Shirley Brill. The two Israelis ended up becoming a couple, both on and off stage - dubbing themselves "Duo Brillaner" in 1999.
Brill studied at the Jerusalem Music Center, while Aner attended the University of Music and Drama in Hanover, Germany. Brill continued her training at the University of Music in Luebeck, Germany, as well as at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
Fans of the Concerto Discreto series could enjoy the duo's harmonious interaction at a concert on February 1, 2010, in which they played a wide variety from the clarinet repertoire - from Carl Maria von Weber's virtuoso "Grand duo" for clarinet and piano to composer and clarinetist Joerg Widmann's "Fantasy." Widmann himself was slated to be the performer and composer of the evening, but his last-minute cancellation turned out to be a stroke of luck for the audience, who could appreciate the "blind date" with the two Berlin-based musicians - the Duo Brillaner.
PROGRAM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sonata for clarinet and piano
-Allegro Tristamente
-Romanza
-Finale: Allegro con fuoco
Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941)
Fantasy for clarinet and piano
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Grand Duo Concertant in E-flat Major, op. 48, J 204
-Allegro con fuoco
-Andante con moto
-Rondo-Allegro
Joerg Widmann (1973-)
Fantasy for clarinet
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, op. 120
-Allegro appassionato
-Andante un poco adagio
-Allegretto grazioso
-Vivace
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Arabesque for clarinet and piano (encore)
Performed by Shirley Brill (clarinet) and Jonathan Aner (piano) on February 1, 2010 at the Arithmeum in Bonn as part of the Concerto Discreto series, sponsored and recorded by Deutsche Welle.