Berliner Solisten play Mozart's Clarinet Quintet

Mozart takes centre stage in this magnificent rendition of the timeless Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, performed by the Berliner Solisten. When the Austrian composer discovered the sound of the clarinet during a trip to Mannheim, he wrote a letter to his father praising its beautiful tone. He quickly developed a desire to compose for the instrument, and after his Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano (“Kegelstatt”, composed in 1786), he set about composing the Quintet K 581, which preceded his famous clarinet concerto and its premature demise by two years. Dedicated to his friend Anton Stadler—a brilliant clarinettist and brother of the composer’s Masonic lodge—this warm and radiant quintet artfully blends diverse instrumental timbres and balances the voices, embodying the spirit of fraternity cherished by the Freemasons.