One of the attractions of this little German disc of quintets for clarinet and string quartet is the presence of
Mozart's unfinished Clarinet Quintet, K. Anh. 91, of 1787, a half of an opening movement that is presented here in two different completions by different scholars. Both show the devilish difficulty of reproducing
Mozart's style, but that by
Robert D. Levin feels more convincing in its overall proportions, at least. Elsewhere this is a strong disc of clarinet chamber music, with clarinetist
Wolfgang Meyer and the
Eisler Quartet turning in controlled and serious performances of a pair of genuinely difficult works:
Weber's Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34, and
Arthur Bliss' Clarinet Quintet in A major, Op. 50. Neither of these works is oriented toward sheer virtuosity, although there is plenty of it in evidence. Instead, the
Weber is a mix of Schubertian melodicism and warmth with French heroic modes and Italianate operatic fireworks, and the ensemble has to be able to carry off all three without lurching. This the performers do elegantly. The
Bliss quintet, a sort of memorial to the composer's younger brother, who died on the battlefield in World War I, has challenges of a different sort: it demands a sustained level of concentration from the soloist. This underrated work, a fine piece of post-Romantic British chamber music, attains its seriousness partly by pushing the clarinet out of its comfort zone, and
Meyer's performance here is genuinely absorbing. A strong chamber recital in which the constituent parts each reinforce each other. Notes are in German and English.