Zayt Gezunterheyt: The Folk Soul of the Eastern Clarinet Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble

• Aleksandr Glazunov (1865 - 1936): Rêverie Orientale:
• 1 Glazunov: Rêverie Orientale 06:44
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34:
• 2 Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34 08:19
• Aram Khachaturian (1903 - 1978): Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano:
• 3 Khachaturian: Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano: I. Andante con dolore, con molto espressione 04:37
• 4 Khachaturian: Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano: II. Allegro 04:10
• 5 Khachaturian: Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano: III. Moderato 06:27
• Rezső Kókai (1906 - 1962): Quartettino:
• 6 Kókai: Quartettino: I. Sonatina 02:17
• 7 Kókai: Quartettino: II. Scherzino 01:43
• 8 Kókai: Quartettino: III. Canzonetta 03:41
• 9 Kókai: Quartettino: IV. Finaletto 01:34
• Jan Van der Roost (b. 1956): Euterpe:
• 10 Roost: Euterpe 14:20
• Total Runtime 53:52

Info for Zayt Gezunterheyt: The Folk Soul of the Eastern Clarinet

This album features a collection of composers with diverse backgrounds, including Glazunov, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Kokai, and Jan van der Roost, showcasing a fusion of Eastern and Western musical elements. The composers share a common toolbox of themes and techniques, emphasizing the unity in diversity across different cultural influences, providing a cohesive and well-integrated musical journey.

The clarinet is presented as the central and ultimate interpreter of this musical lore, underlining its significance and role in conveying the essence of Eastern art music.

The disc promises to offer a holistic musical experience, bringing together various cultural threads through the common medium of the clarinet, providing a well-rounded and immersive listening experience.

If Eastern art music has a folk heart, its arteries are Roma and Klezmer sounds. From the orientalist imagination of Glazunov, the Jewish adoption of Prokofiev, the Uzbek inspiration of Khachaturian, to the Romani-Hungarian roots of Kokai and the Balkanism of Jan van der Roost: all composers on this disc build on the same toolbox of themes and techniques, and they all rely on the clarinet as the ultimate interpreter of this lore. Acknowledged and exquisitely performed by the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble.

Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble

Roeland Hendrikx
is one of the leading Belgian clarinet players of the present day. Hendrikx was principal clarinet with the National Orchestra of Belgium for many years, but in 2017, he embarked on a solo career. He nevertheless remains a zealous advocate of chamber music, which he plays with his own Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble. ​

Soloist: Roeland Hendrikx apperead as a soloist with, amongst others, the Belgium National Orchestra, The Flemish Symphony Orchestra, I Fiamminghi, the Beethoven Academy, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the Limberg Symphonic Orchestra, the Georgia Philharmonic, the Symphonic Orchestra of Lithuania and the Philharmonia Orchestra of Hagen. ​

In October 2018, EPR Classic released his registration of Mozart and Finzi's clarinet concertos and Bruch's double concerto, which he recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Martyn Brabbins). The Belgian Newspaper De Standaard praised this recording as "outstanding" and "a barrel full of listening pleasure" (October 2018). According to the authoritative French magazine Diapason (5 pitchforks), it “has it all: accuracy, lyricism, elegance”. And the BBC Music Magazine (****) praised the “restrained approach to Mozart’s concerto (…) which works surprisingly well”, and the fact that Roeland “captures the contrastive moods [of the Finzi concerto] with clarity, and particularly in the Adagio, beauty”. ​

Chamber Music: Renowned artists and string quartets with whom Roeland Hendrikx has collaborated include Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, Severin Von Eckardstein, France Springuel, Panocha Quartet, Tempera Quartet (Finland), Vega String Quartet (USA) and Danel Quartet. In 2015 he founded the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, which focuses on the smallscale repertoire for clarinet, piano and strings. ​

Among his many chamber music recordings are the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets with the Panocha String Quartet (Phaedra), the quintets of Weber and Bārmann, Mozart chamber music with the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, and sonatas Debussy and Poulenc with duos by other French composers (all Etcetera), quintets by Reicha and Romberg with the Arriaga String Quartet, and the Clarinet Quintets of the Belgian composers Piet Swerts and Peter Cabus. ​

Teaching: Roeland is teaching clarinet at the Maastricht Conservatory (The Netherlands) and the LUCA School of Arts in Leuven (Belgium). He has given masterclasses in Europe, China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and the US (Juilliard School of Music NY, Manhattan School of Music NY, Long Beach University LA, De Paul Univ. Chicago, Yale University, Emory University Atlanta, Oklahoma University, Yale University, Miami University).

Booklet for Zayt Gezunterheyt: The Folk Soul of the Eastern Clarinet