...Kam's beauty of tone and expressive understanding of a composer sometimes thought problematic - though I have never understood why! - is audible throughout the Concerto, in an account that is a match for any of her rivals'! If not perhaps as mercurial as Martin Fröst (BIS), her playing is more aligned to Hindemith's sensibilities, scarcely less than Louis Cahuzac's under the composer’s direction in their still marvellous- Selected Comparisons sounding mid-1950s EMI recording (much reissued, now available Hindemith conducts from Warner). The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Cohen provide first-rate support in top-notch sound. The couplings are, to my mind, even finer than the concerto. The 1939 Sonata is one of the best ever penned for the instrument while the 1938 Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano is simply one of the great chamber works of the 20th century. Kam's understanding and rapport with her colleagues here, particularly pianist Enrico Pace, are manifestly complete. This is a strong rival to Paul Meyer and Eric Le Sage's recent account of the Sonata, and I do not know of a stronger rival for the Quartet currently available.
GRAMOPHONE
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...Kam's beauty of tone and expressive understanding of a composer sometimes thought problematic - though I have never understood why! - is audible throughout the Concerto, in an account that is a match for any of her rivals'! If not perhaps as mercurial as Martin Fröst (BIS), her playing is more aligned to Hindemith's sensibilities, scarcely less than Louis Cahuzac's under the composer’s direction in their still marvellous- Selected Comparisons sounding mid-1950s EMI recording (much reissued, now available Hindemith conducts from Warner). The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Cohen provide first-rate support in top-notch sound. The couplings are, to my mind, even finer than the concerto. The 1939 Sonata is one of the best ever penned for the instrument while the 1938 Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano is simply one of the great chamber works of the 20th century. Kam's understanding and rapport with her colleagues here, particularly pianist Enrico Pace, are manifestly complete. This is a strong rival to Paul Meyer and Eric Le Sage's recent account of the Sonata, and I do not know of a stronger rival for the Quartet currently available.
CD Critic
Diapaspn Magazine
Februar 2021
Trio CD "Contrasts receives prestigious prize
Jury's Review:
Chamber music is a passion of the great solo clarinetist Sharon Kam. With her brother Ori Kam, noble violist and member of the Jerusalem Quartet, she has been performing since childhood. This creates a rare familiarity in musical thinking, an almost uncanny symbiosis, despite all the differences in voice, expression, color or phrase. Kam and Kam performed the program of their new album together with the pianist Matan Porat several times before they went to the studio. It is built like an ideal concert: the clarinet sings instead of the human voice at Brahms. The dark viola dares to play the tricky violin part at Bartók. Grandiose, adorable!
(For the jury: Eleonore Büning)
