W. A. Mozart: Chamber Music With Clarinet

Clarinet player Eddy Vanoosthuyse is joined by the renowned Czech Zemlinsky Quartet exhibiting a refreshing point of view on Mozart’s repertoire for clarinet and string ensemble.

All things Mozart have been said and done, you’d think. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. On a daily basis new findings are added to the research portfolio, not only with regards to the famous Salzburgian’s life hasn’t that been dissected to death? but also about each and every one of his compositions, continuously getting reframed, analysed and compared. The exegesis of the Mozartverse is a full-time job to many. The works on this recording alone raise a bunch of questions of which several remain unanswered.

Eddy Vanoosthuyse, joined on this album by the Zemlinsky Quartet, presents a selection of pieces that might add more substance to the debate. On the one hand, he’s taking on scores that belong to Mozart’s most lavishly documented compositions, on the other pages that have left experts groping in the dark. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s story for clarinet and string ensemble hasn’t been fully written yet. Part of it is voiced through some of the most often performed works in the repertoire. Still, every clarinettist is left with the challenge to get hands-on with the music and put a personal, original spin on it. To accomplish this, one has to be willing to do the necessary homework, returning to the source – and to go about it diligently.

Eddy Vanoosthuyse’s experience with Mozart’s clarinet music spans many years. His knowledge of the works is deep and thorough, yet after dozens of performances and recordings of the illustrious quintet KV 581 just to name an example he still manages to bring something new to the table. On this specific occasion, playing with the world-renowned, Prague-based Zemlinsky Quartet, he considered it no more than logical to start from scratch once again and re-form his interpretation. Or, to put things differently, to start with a clean plate and look at the score as if it were the very first time. Because of this agile approach, this recording is a must for every melomaniac. Vanoosthuyse and the Zemlinsky Quartet offer a genuinely refreshing version of these pieces, considered by some as performed to shreds. What these musicians fully understand, is that presenting a novel point of view is a necessary precondition for producing a new recording in the present day and age. Tristan Igor Levit (piano), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Franz Welser-Möst