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