The first sound heard in the Concerto for Two Clarinets & Orchestra by Antonio Cartellieri (1772-1807) is a loud timpani roll that you could mistake for the opening of a Haydn symphony. This striking effect sets the stage for a Haydnesque allegro with Beethovenian accents, quite different from the wind concertos of Mozart and his contemporaries. But then Cartellieri had a reputation as an innovator (at a time in Europe when performers and the general public were suspicious of innovations) who made use of the latest advances in clarinet technology for his concertos. The solo writing is highly virtuosic (though the two clarinets often play in unison, or in thirds) and its challenges are fully met by Dieter Klöcker and Sandra Arnold.

…Von den drei Konzerten ist das Konzert in F-Moll sicherlich das dramatischste. In musikalischer und technischer Hinsicht ist es auch das schwierigste. Das Lob in der Allgemeinen musikalischen Zeitung von 1818 war überschwänglich:
"Hr. C, erster Kammermusicus und Klarinettist des Königs von Schweden, hat sich seit einigen Jahren durch seine Compositionen für sein Instrument nicht nur in Deutschland, sondern überall, wo man dasselbe warhaft künstlerisch behandelt und zugleich gehaltvolle Instrumentalcompositionen liebt, einen ausgezeichneten Ruf erworben; und alle, die Hrn. C. selbst gehört haben, ruhmen ihn auch als einen der vorzüglichsten Virtuosen.

Between any composer's Op. 5 and his Op. 104 there is likely to be, and indeed should be, a considerable distance in style; in Hummel's case, the two examples on this record link the world of classicism in which he grew up and the new Romantic currents that were to carry him in novel directions. Well, fairly novel directions. The Viola Sonata breathes the whole world of Mozart and Haydn, both of whom taught him, as well as that of his other teachers, Salieri and Albrechtsberger. In the Adagio there is an ease of melody and a skill in handling the material that makes up for the enjoyable but slightly predictable opening movement and balances with the easy-going finale.

In 2002, Ace released Big Joe Louis & His Blues Kings/The Stars in the Sky, which contained two albums – Big Joe Louis & His Blues Kings (1989, originally released on Blue Horizon) and The Stars in the Sky (1992, originally on Tramp) – by Big Joe Louis & His Blues Kings on one compact disc.

SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to pay tribute to the British tenor Ian Partridge on his 85th birthday on June 12 with Stimme der Liebe (The Voice of Love), a collection of iconic songs by Schubert, on which he is joined by his pianist-sister Jennifer Partridge and pianist Ernest Lush.

The young, already internationally successful Austrian baritone and ensemble member of the Munich Gärtnerplatztheater Daniel Gutmann presents songs by Robert Schumann based on poems by Heinrich Heine with Maximilian Kromer, piano, on this CD. In addition to Schumann's most popular song cycle, "Dichterliebe" Op. 48, from which the title of this album, "Tränenflut", is taken, this recording also finds the "Liederkreis" Op. 24 with it's nine songs enter this compilation. In addition, Gutmann and Kromer interpret with "Belshazzar", Op. 57, and "Die zwei Grenadiere", Op. 49/1, Schumann's settings of two of the German poet's best-known ballads.