A breath of fresh air in chamber music: the young ensemble Tastenwind presents a premiere recording of the very latest music clarinettist Fabian Hauser has written for himself, flautist Katja Schulte-Bunert and pianist Elena Kassmann.

This ambitious debut on the MDG label makes a virtue out of necessity as there is hardly any original literature for this distinctive instrumentation. Hauser began his compositional career as a student in a rock and pop band, but is now an experienced orchestral musician. For his “Playground” project he combines the best of both worlds with relish.

Pop song meets twelve-tone row, the “Ringelreihen” comes along in five time, and the chromatic fantasy is interrupted by a tripped-up march. Three Scenes for Three was the first piece Hauser wrote for the Trio Tastenwind.

Playing with the unexpected requires a solid compositional technique. Hauser masters this with aplomb, and together with his colleagues from the Bielefeld Philharmonic he presents himself in top form on this Super Audio CD.