Weber – Clarinet Concertos (Paul Meyer) [1992]

01. Concerto in f minor - I Allegro    [0:07:50.48]
02. Concerto in f minor - II - Adagio ma non troppo    [0:06:21.40]
03. Concerto in f minor - III. Rondo:  Allegro    [0:06:03.25]
04. Concerto in E-flat Maj - I - Allegro    [0:08:23.50]
05. Concerto in E-flat Maj - II - Andante con moto    [0:07:00.47]
06. Concerto in E-flat Maj - III - Alla Pollaca    [0:06:12.53]
07. Concertino for Clarinet & Orchestra in C Minor/E-flat major    [0:08:41.47]

Paul Meyer – Clarinet
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Gunther Herbig – Conductor

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) composed his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73, in 1811 after his Concertino for Clarinet and Orchester in E flat major, Op. 26, and before his Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74. All three works were written for and dedicated to the clarinetist Heinrich Joseph Baermann, and all three show a complete understanding of the capabilities of the instrument. Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 is distinctly different from the earlier concertino: where the earlier work is lightly playful and lyrically expressive, the Concerto No. 1 is deeply serious and dramatically, almost operatically, expressive. The concerto is in three movements: a forceful opening Allegro, an intensely expressive central Adagio, and an energetic closing Rondo Allegretto. Weber is clearly a master of the Romantic orchestra, and his writing for the soloists is supremely skillful throughout. --- James Leonard, Rovi

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) composed his Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74, in 1811 immediately after his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73, and his Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra in E flat major, Op. 26. Like the earlier works, Weber wrote his Concerto No. 2 for clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Joseph Baermann and the work displays a thorough knowledge of the capacities of the instrument. After the most dramatic Concerto in F minor, the Concerto in E flat major revisits the more lighter and more lyrical world of the Concertino in E flat. Set in three movements, the Concerto in E flat opens with a virtuosic Allegro, moves through a gloriously bel canto Andante Romanza, and closes with a playful Alla Polacca. As in all his orchestral works, Weber's mastery of color and tone is complete and his writing for the soloist is breathtakingly difficult but wholly idiomatic. --- James Leonard, Rovi

Weber wrote his Concertino for clarinet and orchestra in E flat major (1811) for Heinrich Bärmann, one of the most accomplished clarinetists of the day. As the instrument was relatively new, Weber's works for the clarinet broke new ground by affording it a new measure of prominence and displaying its wide-ranging capabilties for both expressivity and virtuosic display.

The Concertino consists of three short movements that conform to the traditional organization of the solo concerto: Adagio ma non troppo, Andante, and Allegro. It opens with a tragic song for the clarinet that resembles nothing so much as an opera aria; indeed, the most notable aspect of the work is perhaps the distinctively vocal manner in which Weber uses the clarinet. From this starting point Weber spins increasingly elaborate variations that eventually make their way back to the original gloomy mood.

The success of the premiere, given in the presence (and at the request) of the King of Bavaria, was such that the king commissioned from Weber two full-scale clarinet concerti; these works, together with the Concertino, remain pioneering efforts in the history of the instrument as well as cornerstones of its repertoire. ---Rovi

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