Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein Records All-Weber Debut Album, Out Today

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein has recorded an all-Weber album with conductor Martin West and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra for his debut solo album on the Bridge label, to be released today, October 1, 2013. The album features Weber's two clarinet concertos and his Concertino in E-flat major, and was recorded at Skywalker Sound on George Lukas' Skywalker Ranch outside of San Francisco in March 2011. The album (BRIDGE 9416) is available for purchase from BRIDGE RECORDS, INC. and at Amazon and iTunes.

Mr. Fiterstein said, "I have been playing Weber's concertos since I was a teenager and thought it would be great to record them on my first solo album with orchestra. Weber's concertos are both lyrical and virtuosic and you can sense the composer is telling a story through the clarinet. There are moments that are very dramatic (Weber was an opera composer) and some incredibly intimate phrases as well. The last movements are a celebration!"

Mr. Fiterstein was recently featured on the album, Sean Hickey: Concertos, released by Delos on May 28, 2013. The album includes the world premiere recordings of Mr. Hickey's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra and Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, with conductor Vladimir Lande and the St. Petersburg State Symphony. Mr. Fiterstein's performance of the clarinet concerto was reviewed in Audiophile Audition saying, "Soloist Alexander Fiterstein is one of the country's best players and performs with great tone and fluid technique."

Mr. Fiterstein is recognized for playing that combines flawless technique and consummate musicianship with graceful phrasing and a warm soulful tone. Considered one of today's most exceptional clarinetists, he has performed in recital and with prestigious orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout the world. Recipient of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Fiterstein has been praised by The New York Times for possessing a "beautiful liquid clarity," and The Washington Post has written, "Fiterstein treats his instrument as his own personal voice, dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness."

In the 2013-14 season Mr. Fiterstein will perform the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with conductor Michael Stern and the IRIS Orchestra. In December he will perform at the Kennedy Center with his ensemble, the Zimro Project, in a concert of rarely performed Russian Jewish chamber music, some of which has not been performed in public for close to 100 years. Mr. Fiterstein was also named Co-Artistic Director of the new Sedona Winter Musicfest, taking place in January 2014 in Carefree, AZ. He will return to New York in April to perform with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Fiterstein will also perform the Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with the Minnesota Sinfonia, and will travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to perform the Brahms Clarinet Quintet. He will perform with his Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein trio for University of Chicago Presents and the Civic Music Association in Iowa. Mr. Fiterstein will also perform with the Daedalus Quartet in Reading, PA, and he will perform Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with the Minnesota Sinfonia.

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