Customer Reviews

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Clarinet Quintet

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These two works are perhaps the most recorded of all clarinet music. Amidst the competition, what makes the Shifrin version stand out? First of all, Shifrin's choice of the historically correct bassett clarinet (look carefully at the CD cover and you'll see Shifrin holding two clarinets...the slightly longer one is the bassett clarinet) distinquishes this recording from many others. The use of the bassett clarinet (which is actually the instrument for which Mozart wrote the concerto) allows the pieces to be performed "the correct way" (shorter than the bassett clarinet, the modern clarinet can no longer play the lowest notes in the concerto; these unplayable notes are usually moved up an octave for performances). However, the mere use of a "historically correct" instrument does not make this CD special (after all, the use of period instruments is quite popular these days...Sabine Meyer and Anthony Pay have both recorded the Mozart clarinet concerto using the bassett clarinet). Rather, Shifrin's warm and smooth tone is what makes this CD a must-buy. Some may consider his tone to be velvety but weak, but I find it to be highly appropriate in the Mozart setting (instead of a more brilliant tone that many clarinetists are striving for nowadays). Shifrin's playing style is quite conservative (though he does sport a slight vibrato); no radical interpretations should be expected here. This is a great CD for students, professional players, and music lovers alike. While Robert Marcellus's famed recording of the concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra may never be surpassed, David Shifrin comes very, very near. In any case, Marcellus has not recorded the clarinet quintet (either that, or this recording is really hard to find). All the more to purchase the Shifrin CD!

I own several versions of this concerto, arguably Mozart's finest. Soltzman's is absolutely terrible. I have always had an issue with his sound - his tone is harsh, nasal, and not suited to any music that requires delicate phrasing and beauty. David Shifrin, on the other hand, is an absolutely brilliant artist. An artistic director for the New York Philharmonic and director of several music festivals, David Shifrin is a deeply committed musician. And it shows in these sensitive readings of the Mozart concerto and quintet. His tone is absolutely astounding. It's sweet, mellow, and delightful to listen to. He uses an extended-range clarinet as Mozart intended and the result is delightful. This is a wonderful CD and, as a clarinetist, I cannot recommend it more highly.

I picked up this CD during an intermission of a recent David Shifrin Concert with the Tokyo String Quartet at Rice University. Shifrin is as smooth as vanilla ice cream on a hot summer day. While he played Brahm's Concerto this particular day, my favorite is Mozart's K.622, which is exactly what this album features. Shifrin is the Master of Legato -- and his tone isn't so bright like so many others today. I find Emma Johnson and sometimes even Richard Stoltzman a bit too shrill for my ear. I've yet to find a copy of Marcellus' K.622 but I hear it's the best recording of Mozart's Concerto in A. This is a rare CD to find. If you like K.622, this is a must have.

Notice that in any review of a recording of Mozart's clarinet works, the musicians are always criticized and critiqued, but there is no critic that even attempts to lay a finger on the compositions themselves, except when praising them. That is because, simply put, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Quintet are perfect. The Concerto, Mozart's most mature finished work (it was the last major composition that he completed before his death; the Requiem Mass was, of course, never finished), is absolutely sublime in its beautiful, lyrical phrasing and its use of the clarinet's full range. Every theme is fleshed out and expanded upon to its fullest, with a gorgeous, transcendent effect. The Quintet, composed several years earlier, sounds very similar to the concerto in many respects. The great Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein writes, "one almost has the impression that Mozart felt impelled to express again [in the concerto], in greater and dramatically animated form, what he had already expressed in more lyric form... in the Quintet." And lyric the quintet is; the strings and the clarinet play off of each other perfectly throughout, creating a harmonious blend of beautiful sound. Unlike other later clarinet works, such as those by C.M. Weber (I also highly recommend Shifrin's rendition of these), which dazzle with their huge dramatic sound and prolonged technical passages, these Mozart pieces are beautiful because of their simple and heartwarming nature.

Both the Concerto and the Quintet were composed by Mozart for his clarinetist friend Anton Stadler. Johann Friedrich Schink, a writer who attended one of Stadler's performances, wrote, "My thanks to you, brave Virtuoso! I have never heard the like of what you contrived with your instrument. Never should I have thought that a clarinet would be capable of imitating a human voice so deceptively as it was imitated by you. Verily, your instrument has so soft and lovely a tone that nobody can resist it who has a heart..." These words could just as easily be used to describe David Shifrin's performance on this recording. Playing with a smooth, beautiful tone and with a technique that makes everything sound so fluid and natural, he is certainly the star of this recording. Chamber Music Northwest (of which Shifrin is also the music director) is so wonderfully expressive and crisp in the Quintet. The Mostly Mozart Orchestra is also very fine, but perhaps not quite so good as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In all, however, I have not heard a better rendition of Mozart's perfect compositions. (Quotes taken from the liner notes of this CD)

Record of the Year, Stereo Review:

"How musicologists have arrived at these reconstructions of the original versions of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet and Clarinet Concerto makes for fascinating reading in the notes to this CD, but what truly distinguishes the disc is the glowing performances it contains. Clarinetist David Shifrin approaches both works in the highest bel canto style, with a seamless, long-line legato enhanced by a velvety tone. Both the Chamber Music Northwest (in the quintet) and the Mostly Mozart Orchestra (in the concerto) follow his lead and imbue the performances with a mellowness that does not obscure the melancholy lying below the surface of these late mature works."

Terrific performances, sonicly superb. By far the best recorded version of these pieces.

David Shifrin's recording has become the de facto standard for good reason. It is superbly musical and sublimely beautiful. As an admirer of the much earlier Marcellus recording, I find Shifrin's much more satisfying. The Marcellus version is too stiff and metronomical with too much of the boring orchestral player's interpretation. It is frankly dated. While Shifrin's version is perfectly traditional and conservative, it is much more deeply expressed, always with peerless taste. To the one dissenting reviewer (Lisa): a degree of rubato IS stylistic for Mozart. Thankfully musicianship and musicology have moved beyond the band mentality and the orchestral audition approach.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1) Clarinet Concerto in A Major / K622

David Shifrin - clarinet
Gerard Schwarz - conductor
Mostly Mozart Orchestra

2) Clarinet Quintet in A Major / K581

David Shifrin - clarinet
Chamber Music Northwest...
Ida Kavafian - violin
Theodore Arm - violin
Toby Appel - viola
Fred Sherry - cello

"Mozart's original versions - played on an extended range clarinet"

(Delos - DDD - 1985)

A very beautiful performance by Shifrin, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, and by the Chamber Music Northwest. The use of the extended range clarinet brings new life to the piece although it may take a little getting used to by those more familiar with arraignments for standard clarinet. This is a Five Star album.

I have several versions of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, but wanted one played with a basset clarinet. I'm not saying that the quality of this recording stands on the instrument, but it's incredible to hear the low notes it can reach.

The quality of the record obviously lies on Shifrin's huge talent and this CD is simply a must-have.

I love anything by Mozart. Recently I was
viewing on DVD The "Inspector Morse"
series from England. You probably know how
much the Inspector loves opera and classical music. When I heard this piece in
the background I wanted to know what it was
and then something that rarely happens;
he was asked the name of it. By the way,
the "Inspector Morse" TV series is absolutely the best series ever made. The
acting and scripts are magnificient.