Mozart composed his Clarinet Concerto for the clarinettist Anton Stadler, who was the most gifted clarinettist in Vienna at the time.
It was the first clarinet concerto to be written by a major composer – except it wasn’t strictly composed for the clarinet at all. Mozart originally composed the concerto for the basset clarinet.
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto was the last major instrumental composition he composed; it was likely premiered in Prague on October 16, 1791, less than two months before his untimely death at age 35.
Listen and watch closely to see how much Leonard Bernstein enjoys to lead the Vienna Philharmonic in this work:
