Egon Gabler - Clarinet Concerto 3 / Horn Concerto / Concert Piece for Clarinet - Hybrid Stereo & Multi-Channel SACD

2022 release

Robert Langbein - Horn
Friederike Roth - Clarinet

Philharmonie Baden-Baden
Pavel Baleff - Conductor

Concertos for wind instruments with orchestra are a rarity in the late Romantic period. All the greater is the merit that Friederike Roth, Robert Langbein and the Philharmonie Baden-Baden under Pavel Baleff have earned with the discovery of three works by Egon Gabler. The Horn Concerto, Clarinet Concerto and Concert Piece are more than stopgaps, however, for this premiere recording proves: Gabler knew his craft.

And he admired Wagner and Liszt. It is precisely the infinitely flowing melodic stream that one encounters again and again in his concertos. In this respect, the composer's intimate knowledge of the instruments naturally suited him: Gabler served as a clarinetist first in the military, later in the royal chapel in Hanover. Gabler also learned from the great models in instrumentation. For the comparatively small orchestra, he finds refined sound mixtures. And when the solo clarinet enters the canon with the orchestral horn, one appreciates the virtuoso handling of form and color. In the classicist Weinbrenner Hall of the Kurhaus Baden-Baden, this music is in the best of hands. The enchanting acoustics offer the best conditions for everything from chamber music to an opulent wide-screen sound reminiscent of film music.