Mosaic (Clarinet Quintets by Brahms and Mozart).

Anthony Michaelson, clarinet/Adrian Levine and Kathy Andrew, violins/Stephen Tees, viola/Judith Serkin, cello (Stereophile STPH015-2)

I remember being quite excited when I first heard that the folks at Stereophile were planning to record the Brahms and Mozart Clarinet Quintets, for not only are these two of my favorite pieces of music, but also because I knew that John Atkinson would ensure that this would be a top-flight production both musically and sonically. When the CD was finally completed, I pestered JA to send me a" copy for review; he finally did, and the wait was worth it, for this CD is as excellent as I had expected it to be.

Interestingly, the clarinetist is himself an audiophile personality in his own right, Anthony Michaelson of Musical Fidelity (some may recall his earlier audio company, Michaelson & Austin), who it turns out has studied clarinet under the tutelage of the venerable Thea King. He is joined on this outing by a string quartet consisting of Adrian Levine and Kathy Andrew on violin, Stephen Tees on viola, and Judith Serkin on cello. The recording was made in the Blue Heaven Studios in Salina, Kansas, a converted church where Atkinson had previously recorded a jazz CD.

Some might expect that an audiophile such as John Atkinson would naturally go for the mythical "single stereo microphone straight into all-analog two-channel," with everything done in a single take, but the liner notes quickly put that notion to rest. Atkinson explains that he used four microphones, and that considerable digital editing went into the production of the final product. He further comments that "105 takes of the Mozart and 103 takes of the Brahms later, we had got everything down on tape in two days of intense music-making."

So much for audiophile myths. The end result is what matters, and the end result here justifies the means. The sound has a nice acoustic bloom to it, not too hard and not too soft. The performances seem just a tad on the laid-back side (David Shifrin and the Emerson Quartet on DG seem to make the music a bit more vivid, for example), but there is nothing really wrong with that. This is glorious music that every music lover should be able to appreciate.

If you are just getting into classical music, this disc would be a great one to add to your collection, as it will make you want to hear more classical music. If you are a veteran classical music fan, this is still a disc you will want to add to your collection, because it features a pair of warm, richly recorded performances of two essential chamber music compositions.

Even if you are primarily an audiophile rather than a music lover, you still ought to give this CD some consideration, because reading the liner notes about how it was recorded and listening to the end result will give you more appreciation for how good recordings are made. In any event, you can find out more about ordering this recording at www.stereophile.com. Tell `em KWN sent you ...