Ernesto Cavallini (1807-74) was an extremely successful clarinetist and composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, held the post of first clarinetist at the La Scala, Milan for twenty years, and then went to St. Petersburg in Russia, where during the following fifteen years he made a name for himself as a soloist and chamber musician. The two virtuoso clarinet concertos, heard here in world premiere recordings, both call for full orchestra as well as outstanding clarinet technique in order to master the work’s sophisticated, highly demanding solo passages.