Clarinetists have played
Mozart
's
Clarinet Concerto, K. 622
, and
Clarinet Quintet, K. 581
, on historical instruments of various kinds, but
Nicolas Baldeyrou
, a veteran orchestral clarinetist who also plays period clarinets, may be the first to take all the clarinet works, solo and ensemble, and record them as a group. This 2025 release kicks off the project with
's three big serenades, works so expansive and serious that the word "serenade" almost seems like a misnomer. It was an interesting choice to begin the project with works in which
Baldeyrou
is not the soloist. Some may be waiting to hear his take on the concerto and clarinet quintet, but the period instruments are actually less common in the works here and have interesting effects that vary by work. All the instruments in
's ensemble are from the Classical period. Consider the
Serenade in C minor, K. 388
, which modern players tend to give a grim, even desperate tone made possible by the loud squawking possible on a modern clarinet; here,
and company deliver a smoother, more restrained performance that has an appealing quiet sadness. In the
"Gran Partita"
(the
Serenade in B flat major, K. 361
), however, the individual qualities of the other early instruments tend to come out more over the work's seven big movements, taking up the whole second CD of the physical version. The oboes of
Gabriel Pidoux
and
Hélène Devilleneuve
have a plangent tone. There is some freedom for the players here, with light ornamentation being applied to repeats, but
holds the performances together tightly. There is much here to interest those following the application of historical performance principles to
, and really much to listen to for anyone. ~ James Manheim