The encounter with the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld inspired Johannes Brahms' musical spirit to a series of last great creations. This was due not least to...

The encounter with the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld inspired Johannes Brahms' musical spirit to a series of last great creations. This was due not least to the sound of Mühlfeld's Ottenstein clarinet, which sounded much softer and warmer than the "modern" clarinet already adapted to orchestral use at that time. The two clarinet sonatas op. 120 dedicated to Mühlfeld and the Trio op. 114 are played by the Israeli clarinettist Chen Halevi on two Ottenstein copies, Jan Schultsz accompanies on a fortepiano by Streicher from 1871.