Vienna, 1785. Johann Friedrich Schink is blown away by a new work featuring the clarinet and basset horn. “Oh, what a glorious effect it made – glorious and great, excellent and sublime!” he writes of Mozart’s Serenade 'Gran Partita’.
Eighteenth-century Vienna was abuzz with musical inventions. From the mellifluous clarinet (and its dark, idiosyncratic cousin, the basset horn) to the extended range and dynamics of the fortepiano, to the resonance of stringed instruments, the palette of sonic possibilities was expanding year on year. Both well-established composers like Mozart, and up-and-comers, such as a young musician called Ludwig van Beethoven, were inspired by the possibilities.
Performers and early music scholars Nicola Boud, Simon Cobcroft, and Erin Helyard bring their infectious enthusiasm for 18th-century innovation to these much-loved chamber works, presenting them as fresh and dynamic experiences.
'Mozart’s ‘Kegelstatt’ Trio and Beethoven’s ‘Gassenhauer’ Trio are milestones in the development of the modern clarinet. Here they are pillars in a program that unites three wonderful Australian specialists. This is not-quite-early music, historically informed performance at its best.'
Travel back to the future with three dynamic artists to hear these glorious works as if for the first time.
Erin Helyard appears courtesy of Pinchgut Opera. Simon Cobcroft appears courtesy of Sydney Symphony Orchestra.