SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto in A K.622; Clarinet Quintet in A K.581 - Andrew Marriner, clarinet/Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Sir Neville Marriner - Pentatone
Two classics of the clarinet repertory for centuries, in a father & son project
Published on June 30, 2005
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MOZART: Clarinet Concerto in A K.622; Clarinet Quintet in A
K.581 - Andrew Marriner, clarinet/Academy of St. Martin in the
Fields/Sir Neville Marriner - Pentatone multichannel SACD PTC 5186 048,
61:14 ****:
These are two of the outstanding compositions in the repertory for clarinet, both written for Mozart’s friend the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler. The Quintet is a masterpiece of chamber music - spotlighting the clarinet but providing a tonal balance and important parts for the other four instruments as well. The concerto is one of the most important of all the composer’s wind concertos. Composed just a few weeks before the composer’s death, the work is in three movements, of which the Rondo-Finale is the longest - a fast-moving showpiece which in which clarinetists have reveled for centuries now.
The soloist on this new hi-res recording is none other than the son of famed maestro Sir Neville Marriner, Andrew Marriner. The disc is billed as an 80/50 Anniversary Album in honor of the father and son’s ages. (This aspect makes me sorry I didn’t get this review up in time for Father’s Day.) For the Quintet four of the first-chair players from the Academy join the younger Marriner. The 5.0 channel recording places the clarinet dead center and in perfect balance with the rest of the musicians - not unduly spotlit as with violin and piano soloists in most of the Living Stereo recordings. But there’s nothing lacking in the excellent phantom center channel of the two-channel SACD mix.
- John Sunier
These are two of the outstanding compositions in the repertory for clarinet, both written for Mozart’s friend the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler. The Quintet is a masterpiece of chamber music - spotlighting the clarinet but providing a tonal balance and important parts for the other four instruments as well. The concerto is one of the most important of all the composer’s wind concertos. Composed just a few weeks before the composer’s death, the work is in three movements, of which the Rondo-Finale is the longest - a fast-moving showpiece which in which clarinetists have reveled for centuries now.
The soloist on this new hi-res recording is none other than the son of famed maestro Sir Neville Marriner, Andrew Marriner. The disc is billed as an 80/50 Anniversary Album in honor of the father and son’s ages. (This aspect makes me sorry I didn’t get this review up in time for Father’s Day.) For the Quintet four of the first-chair players from the Academy join the younger Marriner. The 5.0 channel recording places the clarinet dead center and in perfect balance with the rest of the musicians - not unduly spotlit as with violin and piano soloists in most of the Living Stereo recordings. But there’s nothing lacking in the excellent phantom center channel of the two-channel SACD mix.
- John Sunier
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