"I've always been fascinated by the clarinet's almost infinite timbre palette. Due to its enormous dynamic possibilities, it is often compared to the human voice, which can express a variety of emotional nuances", says the German clarinetist Nicolai Pfeffer, who this year released an album dedicated to Italian and German opera music, in arrangements for clarinet and orchestra. Two ouvertures are also included on this CD entitled "Echi d'Opera" (echoes of the opera), which I propose to you as part of the 2022 Discs project. The CD includes creations by Carl Maria von Weber, Giuseppe Verdi, Donato Lovreglio and Luigi Bassi, recorded by Nicolai Pfeffer together with Orchestra della Toscana and conductor Markus Stenz, musicians alongside whom the clarinetist also released an album in 2021 which included concertos from Mozart at the same italian record company, Novantiqua Records.

Virtuosity, brilliant technique and eloquence - these are the qualities of the clarinetist Nicolai Pfeffer, a musician who also dedicates his time to being an editor and a professor at the Music Conservatories in Koln, Hanovra, Bremen and at the University of Music in Brescia. The 36-year-old musician performed in the company of the most famous orchestras in Germany and at festivals in USA and Europe, his repertoire being a vast one, with an emphasis on classical and romantic creation. His debut album included musical pieces by Robert Schumann, Max Reger and Alban Berg, followed by a CD which included the two sonatas op.120 by Johannes Brahms and his recent disc dedicated to the creation of opera music. Markus Stenz was the one who stood at the lectern of the Orchestra of Tuscany and took part of these recordings for the "Echi d'Opera" album - a very experienced conductor who also was an artistic director of the Montepulciano Festival, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Gürzenich from Koln Orchestra, having successful collaborations with other famous ensembles, both in the symphonic repertoire, as well as the operatic one.