Concertante – Virtuosic Wind Concertos

Concertante -- Virtuosic Wind Conertos
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Artist: Sinfonietta Riga, Claus Efland
Genre: Classical
Label: Classics

The little-known 19th-century concertos for multiple wind instruments collected here were well removed from the cutting-edge music of their day. The novelty lies in the combinations: clarinet and horn for Agostino Belloli (a horn player himself, who gives both instruments a real workout); clarinet and bassoon (Franz Danzi's Concertino a precursor of Richard Strauss's Duett-Concertino); horn and bassoon (Ignaz Lachner); and clarinet, horn and bassoon (Louis-Emmanuel Jadin). The virtuosity of the three soloists – clarinettist Egils Sefers, bassoonist Niels Andres Vedsten Larsen and horn player David MAP Palmquist – is put to often jolly use, and the music works on the principle that the busier the better. The slow movements, it has to be said, can be pallid. challenge.nl

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor