It may seem surprising that after three decades of ‘early music’ research, critical discoveries can still be made about a great composer such as Mozart and particularly discoveries around his well-known masterpieces. This recording presents the première recording of the Grande Sonate, an anonymous arrangement for fortepiano and basset clarinet of Mozart’s beloved Clarinet Quintet in A major, K.581. Both the Clarinet Quintet and the Concerto in A major, K.622, were originally written for an instrument called the basset clarinet, which has four more chromatic notes at the bottom of its range than an ordinary clarinet. Since the manuscripts to both pieces were lost, clarinettists have had to make educated guesses about the passages that may have included these low notes.
Significantly, this arrangement includes some of these basset notes, making it an important source for those wishing to restore the piece to its original form. In its incarnation as a sonata, it becomes a wonderful piece of chamber music which is especially compelling when played on instruments like those Mozart and Stadler (for whom it was composed) knew.
Bio
Anneke Veenhoff and Nicole van Bruggen first played together in a performance of the Kegelstatt Trio in 1998 which lead to the creation of their strong chamber music partnership. In 2001 they formed Trio Van Hengel (with the late cellist Bas van Hengel) and were immediately awarded three prizes in the International Van Wassenaer Competition.
They have performed innumerable concerts and made many radio broadcasts throughout The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland, including concerts at the prestigious Holland Early Music Festival in Utrecht, the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam and as ‘Artists in Residence’ in the Festival for Strings and Bows in Poznan. In 2006 they made a première recording of chamber music by Anton Eberl with Ramée.
Jane Rogers is one of Europe’s leading exponents on historical viola and was beyond doubt the perfect musician to join Anneke and Nicole for Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio on this recording.
