20 BERG ∙ BRAHMS ∙ POULENC ∙ SCHUMANN Brahms’s two clarinet sonatas are also regarded as testamentary works. However, the Second Sonata expresses extraordinary violence in certain passages. Michel Dalberto and Michel Portal: Absolutely! Michel Portal: I had already recorded this sonata twice before, with Georges Pludermacher and Mikhail Rudy. It’s music that should spring naturally from the instrument. We mustn’t forget that the clarinet requires – and this is the challenge the player has to meet – a constant supply of breath. It’s the very expression of vocality. Michel Dalberto: One of the unique aspects of Michel Portal’s playing is that it’s very much based on a long experience of jazz and, notably, a special mastery of rhythm. I should point out that I’m not an improviser by any stretch of the imagination, and have no particular skills in this style of music. In fact, Michel’s playing possesses a great flexibility that I haven’t found in other musicians. Flexibility in terms of both inflection of phrases and colouristic imagination. The pianist who performs with him has to show extreme concentration so as really to play in the breath of the clarinet.
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