Franz Krommer was Czech by birth but spent the major part of his career in Vienna; he was the last official court composer in the Habsburg court. A violinist, Krommer wrote mostly orchestral and chamber music, including at least six dozen string quartets. Born less than four years after Mozart, he outlived Beethoven, but his style is firmly based in the 18th century. The Clarinet Concerto, op. 36, was composed almost exactly midway between those of Mozart and Weber; a fairly ambitious work, it features a large orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is certainly a virtuoso showpiece, but well written for the instrument; everything fits well under the fingers.

The three concerti on this disk are kind of ‘in between’. Bernard Crusell is not an unknown, many of his compositions having been recorded over the past decades, notably his clarinet concerti. However, music directors and concert managements usually prefer to schedule Mozart or Weber for the purpose of filling up the Hall. ‘Names’ are for public in general of overriding importance. Thus concert goers didn’t and still don’t get much chance to familiarize with Crusell.

One year after the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death, American musicologist Pamela Poulin was rummaging through the archives of the Latvian Academic Library in Riga and came upon announcements and programs for three concerts given in Riga in 1794 by Mozart’s friend, fellow Freemason, and clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler. The programs also included an engraving of what Stadler termed an Inventions Klarinette. This led to the discovery of several basset clarinets and basset horns in various European collections. These instruments are fashioned from boxwood with brass keys and are virtually identical to that shown in the engraving on the concert program.

The foremost Czech clarinettist of her generation, Ludmila Peterková, chose to tackle in this her latest project a repertoire from the creative legacy of German and Italian Romantic composers, works that are not widely known and yet proved to offer surprisingly attractive listening material. Apart from Peterková's totally accomplished, sonically flawless performance, the album's other great asset is the presence on its tracks of the basset horn, an instrument that has completely disappeared from modern-time music, reintroduced here in two numbers by France's young and talented NicolasBaldeyrou.

Distinguished chamber ensemble, The Fibonacci Sequence present their fifth disc in the instrument-led series of recordings focusing on music for clarinet. Now in its eighteenth year, the Fibonacci Sequence is considered one of the UK’s most distinguished chamber ensembles with a wide-ranging discography and impressive reviews. The ensemble has performed at the world’s leading festivals and venues and it has been chosen for the season 2012-2013 by the Concert Promotions Network.

In that unthinkable Age of Grace enjoyed by all mankind before the dawning of the twentieth century before atonality and the H-Bomb few composers thought of writing for the clarinet in the upper part of its register, and the high piccolo clarinet (in E flat) was practically unknown outside the military band. Stridency was uncivilized. Mozart, Weber, Brahms, Reger—and lesser (but not undistinguished) luminaries like Romberg, Fuchs and Stanford—all favoured the clarinet for its lyrical, euphonious quality, its rich warmth of expression, and its deep broad range of tone colours.

This is one of the best clarinet/flute concertos (concerti) recorded with Pleyel’s compositions. Pleyel demanded “virtuosic brilliance” and so the performers must be at the top of their game to play his works. Paul Meyer is known for a wide repertory and an interest in modern works for clarinet. He began studying clarinet as a child and made his solo debut with the Symphony Orchestra of the Rhine at the age of 13.

I don't know why, but for whatever reason Franz Krommer is a pretty unknown composer. However, he is surely one of the better composers of his time, which lasted from three years after Mozart's birth to four after Beethoven's death. And his clarinet concerti are some of the finest work of his that I've heard. His Concerto in Eb Op. 36 is probably his most well known work, and it's not hard to see why. This rivals Mozart and Weber in sheer tunefulness and great passage work. His melodies are very hummable and memorable. The third movement especially seems to look toward Weber's Concertino, and is simply a joy.

For two consecutive years listeners to Classic FM have voted Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto their favourite among 300 classical works. His melodies have instant appeal and it is good to see three comparative rarities on this disc. Bruch loved alto-register instruments such as the clarinet and viola, and he wrote these works in 1911 when giant leaps were taking place in the development of music, all of which he eschewed in favour of mid-19th-century Romanticism. While the clarinet rides orchestral accompaniment with no difficulty, the viola sits right in the middle and can be drowned (a hazard in performing the Double Concerto but avoided in the recording studio). The viola Romance is a gem, while the Eight Pieces are colourful and varied. All the performers do ample justice to this beautiful and unashamedly Romantic music.