The account of the sonatas from David Shifrin and Carol Rosenberger brings unalloyed pleasure. Shifrin's limpid tone and unforced lyricism, together with his appealing gentleness, hints at the fragility that must have caused Brahms to describe Richard Mühlfeld's instrument as "fräulein Klarinette." The two allow the music to make its own points: the wistful lyricism of the E-flat Major Sonata, which has much in common with the piano pieces of Opus 119, is contrasted nicely with the almost operatic expression at times of the F Minor work. Delos provides an intimate, close-up recording with a lovely salon ambience--in keeping with the disc's thematic re-creation of a musical soirée of November 13, 1894, at the home of Clara Schumann. --Ted Libbey
