The Concerto in A major KV 622 for clarinet and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by soloist Jörg Widmann with the WDR Symphony Orchestra on 09.10.2021 in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major KV 622
00:00:00 I. Allegro
00:13:00 II. Adagio
00:21:24 III. rondo
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Jörg Widmann, clarinet and conductor
► For more on the symphony orchestra, concerts and current livestreams, visit https://sinfonieorchester.wdr.de
► The WDR Symphony Orchestra on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wdrsinfonieorchester
○ Work introduction
What if ...? The question always sends shivers down one's spine in view of the sudden death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. What if Mozart had composed further operas for Schikaneder's lively suburban theater "auf der Wieden" after the "Magic Flute", if he had become cathedral organist at St. Stephan's (as already promised by the Viennese magistrate), or if he had completed his Requiem after all? The questions already indicate: Mozart was not idle in the last year of his life, on the contrary. Between the premieres of his operas "La clemenza di Tito" and "The Magic Flute" he was able to insert the composition of a concerto for his friend and lodge brother in Vienna, the clarinettist Anton Stadler - once he mentioned it in a letter to his wife Konstanze, besides everyday activities like playing billiards or selling his horse...
Mozart had already made sketches for the concerto some years earlier; apparently he was interested in the soft sound, but also in the further development of the relatively young instrument with its variants, the basset horn and an alto clarinet, which has been known as the "basset clarinet" since its reconstruction in the 20th century. It apparently did not catch on at the time, because even in the first printed editions of the concerto, the solo part was arranged for the ordinary A clarinet and low passages were placed in the higher octave (this version is played today by Jörg Widmann).
Stadler performed Mozart's concerto as an effective "showpiece" during his tours of Europe. There are daring leaps between extremes in the first movement, while the clarinet unfolds a wondrous vocal scene in the famous Adagio. It also has an effect in the final rondo, which never spreads glaring virtuosity, but with its romantic shadows also points to the future.
(Text: Michael Struck-Schloen)