Bernhard Crusell
Clarinet concertos

Description

This was to be the first recording in our now well-known series entitled ‘Forgotten Treasures’ funded by our new sponsor, Ruud van Ommeren.

I had asked my dear friend, the clarinettist Eric Hoeprich, which concertos he would like to record and he immediately named the three clarinet concertos by Bernhard Heinrich Crusell as his first choice. Eric told me that a new edition of these concertos was about to be published which immediately increased my incentive to record them.

I had never heard of this composer and I was astonished to find out that there were already several recordings of these concertos, including one on period instruments which had used the old edition. I thought it might be good to listen to the competition so I bought a recording of a famous clarinettist.

After listening, I was somewhat depressed as I found the music to be rather boring. ‘This is going to be the first recording on a new series we are launching,’ I thought. ‘What a disaster!’

A few days later, the scores for the new edition arrived. After looking through them, I was convinced that there was some really good music there that would make for a wonderful recording. Curious? Please have a listen and see what you think!

Forgotten Treasures Vol.1 | ARS-Produktion

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens, conductor