Two Miles High Music

All clarinettists owe an enormous debt of gratitude to 18th-century clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler (1753-1812); because of his remarkable abilities and his friendship with Mozart, the repertory for the instrument has been infinitely enriched. The clarinetist and the composer began a musical collaboration in 1784 that culminated in Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in 1789 and the Clarinet Concerto in 1791. The Clarinet Concerto was the last major work Mozart was to complete. As Alfred Einstein writes, "the greatness and transcendent beauty of this work are such as its high Köchel number would lead us to expect. One almost has the impression that Mozart felt impelled to express again, in greater and dramatically animated form, what he had already expressed in more lyric form . . . in the Quintet." Mozart surely knew the extent of his final illness while writing this work; it is profoundly personal in tone, a heartbreaking sadness underlying the utter serenity of the music.The manuscripts for both the quintet and concerto had disappeared by the time Constanze Mozart set about having inventories made of her husband's works. When an early edition of the concerto was published by Breitkopf and Härtel in 1802, an anonymous reviewer in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung noted that "Mozart composed this concerto for a clarinet going down to the c " [a range lower than the conventional clarinet]. He pointed out that certain parts had to be transposed and acknowledged the work of the editors "for those transpositions and variations for the usual clarinet." And so, the Mozart Clarinet Concerto became known in a standardized edition which included substantial changes from the composer's original. The question of the extended range - those notes beyond the reach of the standard clarinet in A - remained a mystery.During the late 1940s, scholars in England and Czechoslovakia began a methodical study of the clarinet writing in the concerto, paying careful attention to those passages where ascending or descending scale patterns seem to have been "dislocated." It became apparent that the missing original of Mozart's concerto was intended not for the clarinet as we know it but for an unusual extended-range clarinet which included four notes lower than the standard instrument. Stadler himself was known to own such a specially-adapted instrument, a relative to the then-common basset-horn. In addition, Mozart's own incomplete sketch for the basset-horn concerto, K. 584b, provided a valuable model for how he scored the solo passagework for the lower-range instrument.Armed with this information, several scholars have since published careful, imaginative reconstructions of the original clarinet parts for both the quintet and concerto. The differences are more readily apparent in the concerto, where the revised solo passages often dip down into the instrument's distinctive lower range; in the quintet, the changes are minimal. In the performances recorded here, David Shifrin plays on an extended-range clarinet built for him by the distinguished wind instrument maker Leonard Gullotta.

The Emersons and clarinetist Shifrin emphasize smoothness of line and a creamy blend of sound in this polished 1997 performance of the Mozart quintet. Tempos are ideal, giving Mozart's luxurious, long-breathed yet fragile melodies plenty of time to unfold without sacrificing animation or expressive point. Understatement rules in this interpretation, which is all the more intense and poignant because of it. The coupling is a rich, ripe, romantic account of the Brahms quintet, conveyed with passionate address and in a manner more conversational and polyphonic, less homogeneous in sound, than most. It is a dramatic and eventful reading, but one in which lyricism and beauty of tone are never sacrificed. --Ted Libbey

Playing an authentic basset clarinet (a copy, made in 1984, of a period instrument), Anthony Pay gives a splendid account of Mozart's most beautiful concerto. He is right on the mark in terms of tempo, expression, and accent, and his tone is exquisite, with that watery, wonderfully plangent sound that immediately distinguishes the basset clarinet from its higher-pitched siblings. Pay's shadings are soft and natural, and his embellishments simply marvelous. Christopher Hogwood and the Academy give a bold, energetic, dance-like reading of the score, full of verve in the tuttis and wonderfully transparent in the quiet pages. The recording captures it all with excellent fidelity. An equally marvelous account of the Oboe Concerto, played on a period oboe by Michel Piguet, fills out the disc. --Ted Libbey

This is an astonishing collection of works - or parts of works - by Mozart that covers almost every aspect of his creative output: symphonic, religious music, concerti (for piano, horn, violin, clarinet, flute), chamber music, serenades (for strings; winds), a couple of opera overtures and more. Those who know and love Mozart's music will not need this, but it's a great introduction, a great overview. The selections are well-chosen and interestingly organized, with familiar pieces splrinkled among some not-so well known. A good primer. --Robert Levine

Alfred Prinz and Karl Bohm take leisurely tempos in the outer movements of Mozart's clarinet concerto, offering a ripe, warmly expressive reading of the piece. With the Vienna Philharmonic providing lovely support in the tuttis, this wonderful account still stands very near the top of the list of recorded Mozart. The remastering is excellent, and with three of Mozart's wind concertos packed onto it, all in first-rate performances, this mid-price disc is an outstanding value. --Ted Libbey