Programs

Mozart's Clarinet Quintet is one of the earliest pieces written for a similar ensemble. Although the emotional complexity and contrast characteristic of his music is not absent here, it would be hard to guess that Mozart wrote this work in one of the most difficult years of his life. The Clarinet Quintet combines the three genres at which its composer excelled – opera, concerto and string quartet –, and was inspired by none other than the clarinet star of his day, Anton Stadler. At the premiere, the composer himself probably took up the viola to play alongside his friend. Weber's Clarinet Quintet follows up with Mozart's surely exemplary work not only by combining the soul of the concerto with operatic influences, but also by the fact that it was inspired by an exceptional performer, Heinrich Baermann. Apart from Weber's two most famous operas, his clarinet concertos are the only ones to appear in the repertoire, which is a pity: this chamber work is proof of the high quality of his other works.