Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Flute Concerto No. 2; Bassoon Concerto

Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon

  • AllMusic Rating
    7
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Flute Concerto No. 2; Bassoon Concerto Review

by James Manheim

Veteran octogenarian conductor Claudio Abbado has reached an age where he can do what he likes, and he has chosen to release a series of albums of Classical-period music with his hand-picked Orchestra Mozart. It's a large group, nearly 70 players, and the playing in the three concertos on this release is very much old-school Mozart. It's also, once you realize what you're getting into, a lovely thing in many ways. The soloists are the orchestra's principals, and these are really an orchestra's concerto recordings rather than the soloists'. Despite the large size of the orchestra, Abbado's textures are strikingly transparent and graceful, with the wash of brass and winds a pleasure to listen to in itself where these instruments appear. In general he finds plenty of small details in these scores, and in the Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, a work that occupies the listener for a lifetime, the results are profound. The other two concertos are not quite as successful; as so often happens with old-school recordings of these, the music is weighted down with loads that it can't quite bear. The dense little Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, K. 191, fares quite well; the Flute Concerto in D major, K. 314, loses something of its whimsical French melodiousness in a recording of this size. But Deutsche Grammophon delivers fine sound, working in a pair of small Italian theaters, and in general this will be a recording prized by Abbado fans and old-school Mozart listeners.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra in A major, K 622
1
1. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 11:50 Amazon
2
2. Adagio
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 06:34 Amazon
3
3. Rondo. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 08:24 Amazon
Concerto for Flute & Orchestra No. 2 in D major, K 314 (285d)
4
1. Allegro aperto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 07:09 Amazon
5
2. Adagio ma non troppo
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 06:25 Amazon
6
3. Rondeau. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 05:15 Amazon
Concerto for Bassoon & Orchestra in B flat major, K 191 (186e)
7
1. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 06:36 Amazon
8
2. Andante ma adagio
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 05:59 Amazon
9
3. Rondo. Tempo di Menuetto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon 04:05 Amazon
blue highlight denotes track pick
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Flute Concerto No. 2; Bassoon Concerto

Claudio Abbado Discography Browser