David Shifrin, clarinet; Chamber Music Northwest. Delos DE 3066 [Quintet].

Despite its name, Chamber Music Northwest is an assembly of New York regulars. They offer a subdued rather than searing account of the Clarinet Quintet, with leisurely tempos and a feeling more of point-to-point navigation through the score than of a single, seamless utterance. The ensemble is excellent, with sisters Ani and Ida Kavafian quite remarkably well matched on violin, their unisons, octaves and thirds uncannily together. The fluid, singing quality of Shifrin’s playing is admirable, and he shows an interpretive restraint in keeping with his view that the clarinet part should not be treated as a solo, but as one strand among five. The recording, made in March 1989, is intimate and highly satisfying. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.