Classical Works Spotlight #351--Carl Maria von Weber

[erik]

The second of the two concertos for clarinet by the composer whose reputation rests primarily on laying the groundwork for German romantic opera is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.

Weber: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 2 IN E FLAT MAJOR, OP. 74

Without too much question, Carl Maria von Weber’s reputation as a composer rests on the opera stage, having cultivated, in many people’s minds, what we know to be the German romantic opera, although a distant cousin of his, one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, created arguably the first truly significant modern German-language opera in the form of “The Magic Flute.” But even beyond the opera stage, Weber had his moments too. Though the two symphonies (both in C Major) that he wrote don’t seem too terribly different from the Viennese models and were not really well known until almost the end of the 20th century, Weber did excel in the concerto form. In 1810 and 1811, for example, he composed two full concertos for the clarinet for his great friend Heinrich Baumann, both of which were quite popular during Weber’s abbreviated lifetime and have remained so ever since (the only concerto for this instrument that exceeds Weber’s in popularity is, inevitably, Mozart’s). In particular, the Second concerto, written back-to-back with the First, indicates Weber’s affinity with high operatic notes in the instrument and also a much more dramatic orchestral component (trumpets and timpani augment what is otherwise a standard classical orchestra). Weber would continue to create a fair amount of instrumental music for the remainder of his life, though opera would still be his realm. Ironically, it may have also been the strain of mounting in London the debut of his opera “Oberon” in 1825 that caused him to lose his life quite prematurely, not having even reached 40 years of age at that time.



Clarinet: SABINE MEYER

Dresden State Orchestra/HERBERT BLOMSTEDT (EMI)

Included:
CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MINOR, OP. 73
CONCERTINO IN E FLAT MAJOR FOR CLARINET AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 26

[egoodstein]

His clarinet works in particular are very interesting of his instrumental work, and this sounds very nice recording. I like Sabine Meyer very much. He's an interesting German composer, bringing in some ideas akin to contemporaries like Rossini as well as Mozart, and so stands in an interesting place of German music, between Beethoven/Schubert and Mendelssohn/Schumann/Liszt (and of course his operas definitely an important place in German opera between Mozart and Wagner).
A lot of his music is fun, with some interesting and surprising elements, so worth exploring, and glad to see more attention given him in recent years. Another composer who died prematurely, and so would have been interesting to hear what he might've done as well.

[erik]

Weber had a definite feel for instrumental music if these works for clarinet and orchestra are any indication (he also did three works for piano and orchestra, and a bassoon concerto as well), though opera was his forte. But even in opera, he had a few slip-ups ("Euryanthe", for instance, was hobbled by its abysmal libretto by Helmina von Chezy, who also did the libretto for "Rosamunde", whose music by Schubert was almost forever lost because of that play's dreadful scenario). In any true sense, when we talk about the drama in Weber's music, we are talking about theatrical drama (the high notes often reached by the clarinet in those concertos, especially when it's an expert at it like Sabine Meyer) as opposed to the structural drama of, say, Beethoven or Schubert (IMHO).

[egoodstein]

Good point about Weber's operatic career nearly sabatoged by some weak or very confusing librettos (Oberon no less than Euryanthe even, if that was a success in England anyway). Still, he did have a wealth of musical and dramaturgical ideas that proved significant in the development of German/Austrian opera in the 19th century, if even he may not have personally prospered much from those.