Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, and Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581, are masterpieces of the period at the end of his life, and they've been recorded hundreds if not thousands of times. To come up with a standout recording at this point, and indeed without doing anything radical, is quite an accomplishment, but that's what Israeli-German violinist Sharon Kam does here. These performances can be classified with those that use modern instruments but show a distinct influence from historical performance practices; the Austrian-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonic is a small group designed for the dimensions of Haydn's work spaces at Esterházy castle, and Kam uses a basset clarinet (a modern one), with the somewhat extended range of the instrument for which Mozart wrote the two works. The result is an unusually agile accompaniment in the concerto, where Kam as both director and clarinetist can coordinate small details in cadences with surprising precision.

1. 1. Allegro
2. 2. Adagio
3. 3. Rondo. Allegro

Sharon Kam (Basset Clarinet)
Haydn Philharmonie
Conductor: Sharon Kam

Quintet for Clarinet, two Violins, Viola and Violoncello in A major, KV 581 "Stadler Quintett"
4. 1. Allegro
5. 2. Larghetto
6. 3. Menuetto
7. 4. Allegretto con variazioni

Sharon Kam (Basset Clarinet)
Ulrike-Anima Mathe (Violin)
Isabelle van Keulen (Violin)
Gustav Rivinius (Cello)
Volker Jacobsen (Viola)