Kramár-Krommer - Clarinet Concerto; Concertos for 2 Clarinets - Mares, Hlavac

"The decade bridging the 18th and 19th centuries could easily be labeled a golden age of instrumental virtuosity in music. It witnessed a cornucopia of travelling virtuoso players criss-crossing European cities. By no means, moreover, were they only players on such standard solo instruments as, say, the violin or piano. By then, to be sure, the woodwind instruments had become a staple component of the majority of orchestras, and were likewise frequently operating on their own, as so-called "wind harmonia" ensembles, for which there already existed a widely varied repertoire. Of those instruments the most popular, as regarded solo assignments at least, was the youngest member of the family: namely the clarinet. (...) If, initially the emancipation of clarinet was centered around the city of Manheim and its court orchestra, at somewhat later stages the instrument attained a truly extraordinary degree of popularity in Vienna, (...)"

[Václav Kapsa in the booklet]

František Vincenc Kramář-Krommer (1759-1831):
Concerto No.1 for Clarinet and Orchestra in E flat major, op.36
Concerto No.1 for Two Clarinets and Orchestra in E flat major, op.35
Concerto No.2 for Two Clarinets and Orchestra in E flat major, op.91


Vlastimil Mareš - clarinet
Jiři Hlaváč - clarinet
Prague Chamber Orchestra
Libor Pešek - conductor


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