Weber & The Clarinet: Complete Works – Pierre Génisson

“Weber was the composer who truly established the clarinet as a major virtuoso instrument while revealing its uniquely expressive and poetic qualities,” says Pierre Génisson, praised by Gramophone for his “searching eloquence” and the “magical sweetness and clarity” of his playing. A tribute to Carl Maria von Weber on the 200th anniversary of his death (aged just 39) in June 1826, this 2CD set brings together all the composer’s works for clarinet as a solo and chamber instrument: the two concertos and the concertino for clarinet, recorded with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy; the Grand Duo Concertant and the Variations on a theme from the opera Silvana, both with pianist Frank Braley, and, in a recording first released in 2017, the Quintet for clarinet and string quartet with the New York-based Quartet 212 – a performance praised by the Sunday Times as “chamber playing of the highest order”.