Neidich plays on a modern reconstruction of an 1810 clarinet, Levin on an 1825 piano, and the gains are naturally most evident in the work which gives the closest ear to sonorities, Weber's Grand duo concertani. He wrote it for himself and his much-admired friend Heinrich Baermann, and it is not a clarinet sonata but exactly what it says, music for two virtuosos. The lighter piano textures are of great benefit in those passages where there is a danger of a modern piano overwhelming the clarinet. This is striking in the slow movement (where a long solo passage for the piano is also built into the music), but also in some of the dizzy figuration in the finale where the piano's right-hand speeds along in thirds beside the clarinet, especially with the piano taking the upper third. The virtuosity seems to hold no terrors for these skilled players, and they bring a suitably Weberian note of sinister darkness to the Andante and a witty flash to the final Rondo. The phrases are often very long: close recording means that Neidich's snatched breaths are very audible, and so are puffs in the middle of phrases suggesting that, unusually for a clarinettist, he is using the technique of 'circular breathing' (refilling the lungs through the nose while continuing to play with the reservoir of air in the mouth).

Danzi's Sonata is an amiable piece that shares with Weber's Duo an interest in giving the two partners equality by occasionally silencing the clarinet. It is charmingly invented, though not as forward-looking in manner as some of his music. Mendelssohn's Sonata is a good deal less evenly inspired than much of the music written in his dazzling teens, with some empty passagework that seems to be on automatic pilot in the outer movements contrasting with striking developmental sections where the composer takes the controls again. Much the most remarkable movement is the Andante, a curiously haunting little song first played on unaccompanied clarinet and charmingly deployed throughout the movement.

-- JW, Gramophone [9/1995] Review of Sony 64302

Once again Bernius lives up to his name as the rediscoverer of unknown masterpieces from the Romantic era. Just in time for the Franz Ignaz Danzi's 250th anniversary, he has snatched Danzi's Der Berggeist from an undeserved oblivion. This opera, based on the folkloric tale of Rubezahl, is an especially notable contribution to early Romantic opera in Germany.

Franz Danzi was an important figure in the early years of Romanticism. In his tuneful, emotionally charged and dance-like instrumental music we also meet the visionary exponent of music theatre who left a lasting mark on his pupil Carl Maria von Weber. In this album we encounter Danzi's well crafted and engaging chamber music

A product of the Mannheim School, he was extensively involved in orchestral advances in Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. In particular the two Clarinet Potpourris featured on the present CD are performed by Dieter Klöcker and his colleagues with a virtuoso delight in the composer's melodic vein, which ranges from songlike simplicity to elaborate examples of variation form. Danzi reveals himself as a true master in his two Septets which explore a wide expressive range between strings and winds and between dance-like rhythms and lively hunting fanfares. In recording these works the Consortium Classicum render outstanding service to a composer whose works are unjustly neglected but deserve to be far better known.

DANZI: Wind Quintets, Op. 68, Nos. 1-3 / Horn Sonata, Op. 44

If the string quartet can claim Haydn as its father, the wind quintet has two - Anton Rejcha and the slightly younger Franz Danzi (1763-1826). Between them they provided this new combination with a large repertoire (Rejcha alone composed no less than 24 quintets) and set the mould for composers to come. Thereby they also came to contribute significantly to the development of a new type of wind playing without which the classical/romantic symphony orchestra sound would be unimaginable. Danzi trained as a cellist and composer - by his contemporaries he was held in high regard for his successful operas, instrumental concertos and sacred works - but it was probably his experiences as a conductor, chiefly at the Karlsruhe court theatre, which formed the basis of his fine understanding of wind instruments and of ensemble playing. This was recognised at the original release of these discs, when the Gramophone's reviewer wrote that the music 'has great charm and polish, enhanced by the persuasive craftsmanship of its scoring.' But even more than the music - described in Fanfare as pieces which 'could turn Mozart-lovers into lovers of Mozart-loving Danzi' - it was the performances by the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet and (in the three piano quintets) Love Derwinger that moved the reviewers to use superlatives. The French magazine Repértoire claimed that the interpretations were 'luminous: alternately flowing and spirited, dreamy and boisterous; of an exhilarating virtuosity, tinged with poetry and in full gala dress.' Here, then, is a great opportunity to discover the birth of a genre in the best possible company!

DANZI: Bassoon Concertos

Franz Danzi’s wind quintets tend to be the most well known of his works today and are still within the repertoire of many wind quintets. His rarely heard orchestral symphonies, which impressed Carl Maria von Weber, are also enjoyable works, enhanced by a richer palette of instrumental colors and graced with appealing Haydnesque melodies.

Classical Music

“One of the most important advantages that the Luxembourg citizen has when abroad is that linguistically and culturally we embrace both the German and the French cultures...This gives a Luxemburger, particularly one active in the arts or the cultural environment, a different outlook and approach,” suggested Luxembourg composer Alexander Müllenbach in an interview. Perhaps it is this different perspective, the quite individual, open approach, that Françoise Groben herself had, a quality that she brought to her performance of German and French compositions for the cello. And it is for that reason that Banque Générale de Luxembourg placed at her disposal an exquisite instrument built by Matteo Goffriller in 1695.

Françoise Groben was born in Luxembourg on December 4, 1965. She received her first lessons in the cello at the age of five at the city’s Conservatoire, studying there with Francine Weber-Deprelle, Jean Join und Georges Mallach. She eventually completed her studies with Boris Pergamenschikov at the Cologne Musikhochschule, graduating in her concert examination, while continuing to attend master classes given by such artists as Daniil Shafran in Moscow or William Pleeth in London, or by the Amadeus Quartet. From 1974 onwards she was a member of the ensemble Les Musiciens founded by her father, Joseph Groben, and was only 15 when she first played in the Youth Orchestra of the European Union, going on to perform under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan and Georg Solti. The recordings collected here illustrate the entire spectrum of Françoise Groben’s artistic interests, demonstrating that she was not only a leading soloist but also a gifted and coveted chamber musician who regularly included pieces by Luxembourg composers in her programs and was strongly committed to contemporary female composers.

Franz Danzi has gone down in music history and into the repertoire of countless ensembles as a prolific and ingenious composer of appealing wind quintets. The fact that this genre represents only a fraction of his highly diverse catalogue of works is often overlooked, for Danzi was among those luminaries of the "transitional era" who did not satisfy the general preference for clichés. Heir to the Mannheim tradition on the one hand, visionary of the dawning Romantic era on the other; admirer of Mozart and kindred spirit of Weber; obedient court musician and quiet rebel-this combination makes for some anachronistic surprises: how else could anyone have written these classical, delicate Rococo trios, while in Vienna a certain Beethoven was pushing the boundaries of what was possible? Danzi could, and how!

Danzi, F.: Flute Chamber Music

DANZI: Wind Quintets, Op. 56, Nos. 1-3 / Wind Sextet, Op. 1