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colleague, and these works could be easily court clarinetist Heinrich Baermann garnered
mistaken for early Beethoven; his craft calls on works from a wide range of composers, from
classical harmony and texture, but his gestures Franz Danzi to Giacomo Meyerbeer, but his
are undeniably romantic. He also shows a lasting legacy is the two concertos, concertino,
keen ear for the clarinet, and his writing for and quintet written for him by Carl Maria von
this relatively new instrument is both idiomat- Weber. These works are not only standards in
ic and enjoyable. The ARTE Ensemble is prin- the clarinet repertoire, but favorites on concert
cipal musicians of the NDR Philharmonic in programs and sure-fire audience pleasers. The
Hamburg. They are thoroughly professional in concertos, in particular, require not only pro-
their presentation; their playing is clean, yet fessional-level technical command, but a thor-
highly expressive. One will find that Volckmar, ough understanding of opera, as Weber’s love
like Beethoven, is a composer more of themes of the voice and the stage permeate every mea-
than melodies, but these renditions make the sure.
composer’s music as beautiful and compelling Here the renowned Swedish-born soloist
as Mozart. If you like to take chances on for- Hakan Rosengren teams up with the North
gotten composers of the past, you will find this Czech Philharmonic and their conductor, the
very rewarding. Canadian Charles Olivieri-Munroe, to put his
HANUDEL stamp on the Concerto No. 1 in F minor, the
Concerto No. 2 in E-flat, and the Concertino,
WEBER: Bassoon Pieces; Symphonies Op. 26. Most of the time, the partnership
Jaako Luoma, bn; Tapiola Sinfonietta/ works. Rosengren has a brilliant soloist’s per-
Jean-Jacques Kantorow sonality, setting forth ambitious fast tempos
BIS 1620 [SACD] 56 minutes and matching them with clean fingers, sizzling
articulation, and beautiful phrasing. He knows
This program has two of Carl Maria von all the special moments in these works, and he
Weber’s symphonies, the Bassoon Concerto in brings them out with a wide variety of color
F, and the Andante and Hungarian Rondo. and nuance. In addition, some players in the
The symphonies, which were unfamiliar to orchestra, notably the horn section in 1:II, take
me, were written much more in the style of a the initiative with Weber’s imaginative scoring
sinfonia concertante or a concerto with multi- and produce beautiful results.
ple wind soloists than in the style of sym- But Rosengren’s sound tends to spread at
phonies. Tutti passages resemble ones from loud volumes; and his vibrato, while subtle, is
his concertos, while the sections set apart from curiously inconsistent and, as a result, rather
them are treated like solo statements of the ineffective. The North Czech Philharmonic is
theme—the soloists enter, restate the theme not the most polished ensemble, and while
with great ornamentation, and exit. Olivieri-Munroe is very accommodating to the
But the good pieces on the program are the soloist, his players act more as followers than
two works for bassoon and orchestra. Jaako collaborators. Their lack of energy in the tutti
Luoma is a fine bassoonist with impeccable passages hints at an unhealthy dependence on
technique and a solid tone. The Andante and the soloist, and it gives the listener the impres-
Hungarian Rondo is as clean and sparkling as sion that they cannot do anything without
many other recordings. His performance is him.
surely to be a point of comparison for future
This has a lot to offer, but too many little
recordings of the work.
things prevent a ringing endorsement.
I do not particularly care for the sym-
phonies, but juxtaposed against two of HANUDEL
Weber’s finer works, it is interesting at least to
hear the similarities and gain a deeper appre- W EBERN: 5 Movements for Strings, op 5; 5
ciation of the composer’s style. Orchestral pieces, op 10; Songs, opp 8, 10, 13,
SCHWARTZ 14, 15, 19; Das Augenblicht; Orchestral Vari-
ations; Cantata 2; BACH: Ricercata
WEBER: Clarinet Concertos Tony Arnold, Claire Booth, s; David Wilson-John-
son, b; Philharmonia Orchestra; Simon Joly
Hakan Rosengren; North Czech Philharmonic/
Chorale; 20th Century Classics Ensemble/
Charles Olivieri-Munroe
SMS 103—50 minutes (Norden Music, PO Box Robert Craft
174, Placentia CA 92871) Naxos 557531—80 minutes

Solo instrumental works, especially for winds, This is Volume 2 of a Webern series. Robert
are rarely written in a vacuum, and in the clar- Craft has spent most of his long life interpret-
inet world almost every standard piece of liter- ing the music of the three 12-tone giants, and
ature owes something to a great player who this time around he seems to have got it right.
inspired it. The famous 19th Century Munich He used to be criticized for his cold and dry
188 November/December 2009
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interpretations, while Pierre Boulez was not much need to replace it unless you place a
praised for his clarity and lyricism. strong premium on elegance. Both recordings
This is a remarkably full disc containing a include Weiner’s folk dance arrangements
great deal of music, all recorded with sonic also, though the Hyperion adds more of the
realism and played in a relaxed manner that very short ones.
leaves the listener free to absorb this complex Listeners drawn to this old-fashioned but
music without shoving it down his throat with very enjoyable composer might want to inves-
no dressing, as Craft’s old LPs used to do. The tigate his Second Violin Concerto (an orches-
performers are more polished, too. Arnold has tral re-casting of the Second Sonata) and sev-
a sweet, clear sound, and everyone seems eral other orchestral pieces gathered on a two-
highly competent. disc set, BMC 18 (Mar/Apr 2001). Also of inter-
The only drawback is that though there are est is his Hungarian Folk Dance Suite recorded
excellent notes by Craft, there are no texts by Neeme Jarvi on Chandos 9029 (July/Aug
whatsoever. That is most unprofessional and 1992, p 247).
leaves the listener at a total loss to understand LEHMAN
what is going on. 19 songs and two choral
works and not a clue besides the titles! We who
have other recordings of this material can deal
W ERNICK: Horn Quintet; Da’ase; Quartet
6; Trochaic Trot; Name of the Game
with it, but that will not sell Webern to the new William Purvis, hn; Juilliard Quartet; Colorado
generation. Good luck, Naxos! Cheap is good, Quartet; David Starobin, g; International Contem-
but cheap and shoddy is not. porary Ensemble/ Cliff Colnot
D MOORE Bridge 933—53 minutes

WEINER, L: Violin Sonatas (2); Richard Wernick (b 1934) taught for 31 years at
SUNY Buffalo, the University of Chicago, and
20 Easy Pieces; Dances (3)
Hagai Shaham; Arnon Erez, p the University of Pennsylvania. Pulitzer Prize-
Hyperion 67735—78 minutes winner in 1997, he is the recipient of numer-
ous major awards and grants, and he has been
A countryman and contemporary of Bartok commissioned by major orchestras and cham-
and Dohnanyi, Leo Weiner (1885-1960) took ber ensembles. His style is what some call aca-
the path of the latter and remained a conserva- demic modernism—abstract and rigorously
tive, unthreatening composer only mildly avoiding any hint of tonality. While this might
interested in or influenced by Hungarian folk not be everyone’s favorite flavor, I find his
music. His well-crafted and richly romantic music imaginative and beautifully crafted.
music is indebted to Brahms and Dvorak, Wernick composed his Horn Quintet
though it has more lightness and clarity than (2002) for horn player William Purvis and the
the plusher sonorities typical of earlier Victori- Juilliard Quartet. Purvis executes the devilish
an-era productions. horn part expertly. Two pieces were written for
Weiner’s two violin sonatas date from 1911 guitar virtuoso David Starobin. Both ‘Da’ase’
and 1918. The First Sonata in D has great (1996) and ‘Trochaic Trot’ (2000) are complex,
melodic charm, with a lyricism and warmth, extremely difficult, and in Starobin’s hands,
and even some particular phrases, that recall fascinating to hear.
Brahms’s glorious Sonata in G. The Second Quartet 6 (1999), ably executed by the Col-
Sonata in F-sharp minor, as befits its minor orado Quartet, uses serial compositional tech-
key, is more passionate and urgent. The pro- niques and celebrates the life of Wernick’s
gram is filled out with some short settings of cousin Henry Levy, who rescued thousands of
peasant tunes, one of them a cycle of 20 minia- Jews from the Nazis and communists during
tures, the others somewhat longer and more and after World War II. The Name of the Game
elaborate. (2001), for solo guitar and 11 players, uses the
The sonatas are really quite beautiful letters in David Starobin’s name to generate
works, so it’s not surprising they’ve been musical material. I can’t hear those notes, but I
recorded several times. Carl Bauman liked appreciate the skillful performance by the
Oscar Shumsky’s reading of them on Biddulph International Contemporary Ensemble, con-
15 (May/June 1995); I haven’t heard that. Vil- ducted by Cliff Colnot.
mos Szabadi and Marta Gulyas did a fine job
KILPATRICK
with them on Hungaroton 31663 (May/June
1997). This new Hyperion is also graced by
splendid performances. Sonics have a bit more
WILMS: Symphonies 1+4; Overture
North German Radio/ Howard Griffiths
air but are also a little coarser on the Hungaro-
CPO 777 209 [SACD] 66 minutes
ton, while the Hyperion is more refined. The
differences, both in playing and sonics, are not The Dutch composer Johann Wilhelm Wilms
great; and if you have the Hungaroton there’s (1772-1847) worked for much of his life in
American Record Guide 189