Unfortunately for me, opera and especially Italian opera, is where you hear most of classical music's most memorable melodies. So this is when recordings like this Echi D'Opera (Echoes of Opera) are highly valuable, not only for people like me but for all opera followers, as well as clarinet enthusiasts. Clarinetist Nicolai Pfeffer believes that because of its fluid "singability", this instrument is perfectly at home within the Italian bel canto repertoire. So much so that he took it upon himself to write and prepare special orchestral arrangements for this recording, of the "La Traviata" and "Rigoletto" Concert Fantasies, originally scored for clarinet and piano. This immediately projects their "operatic" disposition more effectively. And throughout these as well as the works by Verdi and Weber, Pfeffer's delivery and embouchure technique are impeccable. The end result is an unblemished sound that quite simply rolls off the ears.
Jean-Yves Duperron - http://www.classicalmusicsentinel.com/collections/echidopera.html