The combination of clarinet, viola, and piano was established by Mozart in his "Kegelstatt" Trio, K.498. A new recording of that masterpiece with clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli also has three other pieces by composers following in Mozart's footsteps after his lifetime. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Magistrelli about the album and his large instrument collection.
See album details at Brilliant Classics.
This is KBACH’s First Take, and I'm Michael Keelan. I'm talking with clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli about his new album of trios for clarinet, viola, and piano, including the trio by Mozart that started the fashion for that combination. What are the strengths of having those instruments together?
Mozart was such a genius also finding new instrumental combinations. Viola is quite a similar instrument to clarinet because you know, the timber, the color is um a little bit nasal, a little bit you know, dark, darker than violin which is such a brilliant instrument, and it can match so well with the clarinet. I think Mozart was such a genius also finding this combination, and I must say that I performed this trio several times in my life, and when I had the opportunity to make a recording of this trio, I was so happy. And I have to tell you that I already recorded this trio using the early clarinet, so we recorded on early instruments. That was about maybe 10 years ago. But now, with a modern clarinet, I was also very happy, you know, having also good colleagues of mine, great pianist and great violist. Of course, if you want to make a recording of this masterpiece, you you should have very good quality, you know, in the the colleagues. And I had.
We're talking about the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio, Köchel 498. He wrote many other piano trios, but they were the conventional piano, violin, cello version. And this trio, you could almost say, or you might say, is musically his very strongest. So do you think that that was partly because of the genius of the instrumental combination, or was he also just particularly inspired that day?
I think that Mozart, you know, enjoyed so much the clarinet because he had as a good friend Anton Stadler. Also, we have to talk about the subtitle, you know, Kegelstatt that means skittles
Referring there to a game similar to bowling.
And Mozart was so fond of playing games, in some occasions also while composing. That sounds incredible. He wanted to compose masterpieces, and he was playing games at the same time. I mean, not all the time, but it happened.
Another trio on the album taking up this combination is by Robert Schumann, much later, his Märchenerzählungen, or Fairy Tales. Do you think of them as four miniatures, or a kind of related cycle?
In my opinion, they have each of them some peculiar characters that are quite different, in a way, but also very well suited together. They are also really fantastic pieces. And also, this composition I have recorded in the past, maybe 20 years ago, but now, you know, when you make a recording the second or third time, you should try to do better than the the previous one. So, and I had different ideas, I had can say more mature ideas in on the musical point of view.
I mentioned to you I had played the viola in those two trios, and that was over 30 years ago. So if I were to play them again now, I would definitely have different ideas.
Of course.
But can you tell us more about the other two composers on the recording, who are largely unknown: Joseph Triebensee and Johann Stiehl?
Yes, of course. So I thought to put together an interesting program with two very well-known pieces, you know, Mozart and Schumann, but also two more composers not really so well-known. And you know, I have been quite busy in the last decades to find new clarinet gems to be shown, to be recorded. When you have something unknown, there must be quality in these pieces. Otherwise it's not really so so good to to make recordings of uh you know, pieces with no quality. And I thought that this Stiehl was a really very good trio. And I have to say that I was just consulting on dynamic Facebook some different posts. And happy to discover this trio which, in a way, um is a little bit classical, a little bit romantic. I mean, it was written during the early romantic period, but it has inside some typical classical elements for for example, I can say the third movement of this trio uh which can remind me some Mozart piano concertos. And I thought, this is a Mozart style. I mean, but in some parts, Steele thought about some harmonic changes and dramatic moments that switch from a classical mood to an early romantic style. And you know, very interesting also harmonical situations.
So you were talking about the Stiehl. For the Triebensee, he was a Bohemian composer who even played the oboe in the premiere of Mozart's Magic Flute. What is the style also somewhat Mozartian there?
This piece has a very peculiar history, and it's connecting with a very popular Viennese song. And I can tell you it is said it refers to the balladeer Marx Augustin and his brush with death in 1679. And Augustin himself is sometimes named as the author, but the origin is unclear of this piece of this theme with many, many variations. From these many variations, I selected some of them, I don't remember how many, some, I mean the most significant ones. The Viennese people loved Augustin because of his charming humor in bitter times, and they called him Lieber Augustin, meaning Dear Augustin. The theme, this theme is almost identical to that of Did You Ever See a Lassie?, although O du lieber Augustin is longer and more melancholic.
That's a melody that most listeners will definitely recognize.
Ta-ta-ta-ta-rap-pa-pi, very simple, so it was very well-known.
You have a massive discography. The amount of music that you've recorded is really astonishing. Have you always learned things very quickly and easily?
I wanted to put together so much material, most of the pieces I have recorded are unknown. And so, my mentor in the past was Herr Dieter Klöcker. Have you heard about him?
Oh yes, sure.
Dieter Klöcker. And nobody recorded such a high amount of pieces like he did in the past. And I was so fond of him when I was 15, 16 years old, and I wanted to collect all his recordings. I have all his recordings, some hundreds. And I have to I have to tell you that now I own his clarinets also. He was asking me when he was about to die, unfortunately he was so sick, and he wanted to make sure that his clarinets could be played by a, you know, a good player or a good friend, or and I was so honored when he called me and was offered me offering me this opportunity.
Right, a great honor. And I was reading that you have a large collection anyway, even aside from that. Can you say a little bit about what the differences are between your many clarinets?
So, I put together many clarinets. I have about 250, more or less, which is a good number. They are coming from different periods, starting from beginning of 19th century and till, you know, the contemporary clarinet. And I can tell you again about the clarinets belonging to Dieter Klöcker, which are 100 years old. You know why? Because he could get them from his former teacher, and teacher of Dieter Klöcker was performing, playing in the orchestra of the last czar of Russia, you know, Nicholas II in St. Petersburg. Then Dieter Klöcker passed his clarinets to me, and I feel so honored. They are quite old but in really fantastic condition.
A worthy recipient, to be sure. Luigi Magistrelli is the clarinetist on a new album of trios for that instrument with viola and piano. Thanks very much for talking with us on First Take today.
You are welcome.