Reviews and interviews
The works on this CD all have the clarinet in the spotlight, with contagious enthusiasm perfectly performed by Nicole van Bruggen.
Luister (September 2006) [The Netherlands]
Review of Eberl CD with Trio Van Bruggen - Van Hengel - Veenhoff
... Mozart embraced the clarinet as a new orchestral and solo instrument. Johann Stamitz experimented to his heart's content with this new instrument. His Clarinet Concerto in B flat was played roundly, sometimes a little soft, but always delicately by the pregnant Nicole van Bruggen-Harris. The peaceful second movement clearly demonstrated where Mozart got his inspiration.
Rotterdams Dagblad (April 2005) [The Netherlands]
Review of solo concerto in De Doelen with the New Dutch Academy
...and most significantly the glowing warm playing of Nicole van Bruggen-Harris. Her performance made the Beethoven as well as the Schubert an ultimate musical celebration which would make any critic speechless.
Delftse/Haagsche Courant (March 2003) [The Netherlands]
Review of Beethoven Septet and Schubert Octet concert
Van Bruggen allows the sound, particularly in the low register, to melt like creamy May butter … the classical clarinet was swinging, … the music making was so expressive and full of enthusiasm!
Leidsch Dagblad (February 2009) [The Netherlands]
Review of Trio Van Hengel concert
Click here to read the interview from the Dutch Early Music Magazine (in Dutch only).
Clarinettist Nicole Harris had been studying for two years at the conservatorium in Sydney when Eric Hoeprich's ensemble Nachtmusique visited the city. She decided immediately that the classical clarinet would be her future. Enthusiastically she explains: 'In Australia there wasn't very much Early Music so I came to The Netherlands to study classical clarinet with Eric Hoeprich. During my studies, I discovered that there is a large amount of clarinet repertoire which is never performed and I very often came across the instrumentation, clarinet, violin, viola, cello. Together with three string players, I founded Kwartet André in 1996 and as far as I know, we are still the only regular ensemble with this instrumentation.' Nicole knows very well that there is more than enough repertoire. 'I have found approximately two hundred and fifty works of which we have played around thirty; we have plenty to keep us busy. Mozart wrote the best known work for my instrument and strings with his clarinet quintet and he started a trend: the composers following Mozart wrote more clarinet quintets than quartets. There are also many arrangements of string quartets in which the first violin part is played by the clarinet. Publishers often did that to enable their music to be sold to a broader public. The range of the clarinet is greater than that of a violin in the low register and it is precisely this low register which blends so beautifully with the strings. Especially in the work by Hummel which we will play in the Network series, this can be clearly heard.
Interview in Tijdschrift Oude Muziek (Early Music Magazine) (2001) [The Netherlands]