Stamitz – Clarinet Concertos (Sabine Meyer) [1993]

Carl Stamitz
1. Cl Con No.3 in B flat: I. Allegro moderato
2. Cl Con No.3 in B flat: II. Romanze
3. Cl Con No.3 in B flat: III. Rondo
4. Cl Con No.11 in E flat: I. Allegro
5. Cl Con No.11 in E flat: II. Aria (Andante Moderato)
6. Cl Con No.11 in E flat: III. Rondo alla Scherzo (Allegro moderato)

Johann Stamitz (Jan Václav Stamic)
7. Cl Con in B flat: I. Allegro moderato
8. Cl Con in B flat: II. Adagio
9. Cl Con in B flat: III. Poco presto

Carl Stamitz
10. Cl Con No.10 in B flat: I. [Allegro]
11. Cl Con No.10 in B flat: II. [Andante sostenuto]
12. Cl Con No.10 in B flat: III. [Rondo (Poco allegro)]

Sabine Meyer - clarinet
Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields
Iona Brown – conductor

Mozart heard clarinets at the Elector Carl Theodor's Mannheim, and longed for them to include in his own symphonies in Salzburg. They add richness to many a symphony composed for the famous orchestra, and (even if Sabine Meyer plays a modern clarinet) these concertos indicate the kind of music that was being written for the instrument. There is none of Mozart's romantic richness here, not even in the slow movements (though the Rornanze of Carl Stamitz's No. 3 is in the manner of Don Ottavio's mio tesoro"); but the elegance, grace and courtesy of the music make easy listening.

Johann Stamitz (1717-57) still has one foot in the baroque. In his opening movement, after the striding bass, dotted rhythms and other baroque traits, the entry of clarinet tone does indeed, as Markus Schwering's judicious sleeve-note points out, sound surprising. Carl (1746-1801) wrote some dozen clarinet concertos: the three here recorded are amiable works cast in a similar mould—rather simple sonata-style first movement, expressive Romanze or Aria, and nimble Rondo. It is in the slow movements that the most expressive music is found, not surprisingly, with eloquent melodies intended to touch the affections. Mozart was piously disdainful when writing to his father of the behaviour of the Stamitz brothers, as of the clarinettist Joseph Beer who had a hand in some of Carl's works, but they gave him some ideas. And in their own right, played here with a lively appreciation of their worth and of their limits, these concertos can give much pleasure. --- Gramophone [11/1993]

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