MOZART’S CLARINET
Muisca Viva Australia
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre
Tuesday July 22, 2025
(L to R) Nicola Boud, Simon Cobcroft, Erin Helyard
We certainly heard the clarinet sound that Mozart would have been familiar with, although I was slightly disappointed that the more interesting of the two instruments that Nicola Boud wielded – a basset horn – appeared in only one piece: an arrangement of Beethoven’s Horn Sonata Op. 17, written in 1800 and endorsed by the composer in its transcribed version by Joseph Friedlowsky in about 1801. The other Beethoven works for clarinet that we heard saw Boud using a five-key clarinet for the Aria con variazioni of about 1792 which is the last of the Three Duos WoO 27 originally written for clarinet and bassoon but here employing Simon Cobcroft‘s cello for the bass part; and later for the Gassenhauer Piano Trio in B flat which was written in 1797 for tonight’s combination (at last) of clarinet, cello and fortepiano/pianoforte.
Mozart himself fared somewhat less well, being represented by two works. With limited resources, these musicians performed the Kegelstatt Trio in E flat which really calls for clarinet, keyboard and a viola, not a cello, but which proved mildly entertaining as we watched Hobcroft spend lots of time on his two top strings. And that was it, as far as Mozart’s clarinet went because the second work gave Erin Helyard a fortepiano solo in the C Major Sonata K. 545, greeted at its opening bars by a sigh of approval soughing through the Murdoch hall.
In fact, Helyard took the occasion to proffer a slightly different take on this classic. He played through the opening Allegro‘s exposition straight, then decorated the repeat with a smorgasbord of introduced interventions and ornaments. Much the same happened when he repeated the movement’s second part. And on it went through the chaste Andante but, as far as I remember, the concluding Rondo was performed without much elaboration, if any. A bit flamboyant, perhaps, this version but understandable as the sonata was conceived as a beginner’s piece and the temptation to dress up a too-familiar outfit would prove irresistible.
So, a lot of Beethoven’s clarinet in this Musica Viva recital and only one Mozart – and even that was a work that’s familiar to most chamber music lovers. Still, we heard some of the evening’s most convincing playing in the Kegelstatt‘s middle Menuetto, particularly at the start of the Trio’s second half with a finely balanced unison partnership between Boud and Cobcroft. All the same, the cello encountered several moments of dubious intonation – an odd note or two cropping up, admittedly infrequently, in both the outer Andante and Rondeaux that surprised more than a little as Cobcroft was playing the only non-archaic instrument onstage (even if the clarinet and fortepiano were modern copies).
But the point of the exercise was to show the difference between the clarinet timbre that Mozart would have known and the polished product that we have come to expect from the modern instrument when it outlines this particular score. And the results were? Well, not much, as far as I could tell. Boud might have more difficulty in producing the notes because of the lack of flexibility on the Lotz clarinet copy that she was manipulating but you couldn’t really fault the fluency or truth of her articulation which came across with excellent fidelity. Yes, you might have pointed to a couple of awkward moments in phrasing but these were so slight that they barely flickered on the surface of her line.
With the revamped horn sonata, it was hard to understand why Boud and Helyard bothered to repeat the 76-bar exposition to the opening Allegro as the content is bland as far as the horn/clarinet part goes and the only frisson comes in the keyboard alternating semiquaver chords across bars 56 to 61. Against that, we got to enjoy the startling bass notes of Boud’s basset horn. Furthermore, the players compensated for Beethoven’s very short Poco adagio with a vital, breezy account of the final Rondo with a very satisfying partnership in phrase mirroring and a dynamic balance that would have been harder to carry off with the natural brass instrument.
Cobcroft joined Helyard for the Ein Madchen oder Weibchen Variations of 1796: an easily imbibed set of twelve non-complex elaborations on Papageno’s Act 2 wish-fulfilment aria from Act 2 of The Magic Flute. I had more trouble with the cellist’s pitching here than anywhere else on the program, particularly an unhappy start to Variation 2 during which the clefs are reversed, the string playing treble and the keyboard bass in both hands. The outcome seemed momentarily unsure which surprised because the tessitura isn’t that high, only reaching G atop the staff.
Better followed, mainly near the end of these rapidly accomplished variants when we hit the two minore ones, the adagio/poco adagio Nos. 10 and 11 in F minor, particularly the former where the cello emerges only after the first half to take up an entertaining tit-for-tat with the keyboard. But even the penultimate variation has its own charm with a broad string melody set against complaining keyboard triplets that gave way to a brief cadenza for Helyard.
Not much to report about the Aria con variazioni. Beethoven only wrote four diversions on his air, with a rapid 31-bar Allegro in 6/8 as a coda. I found it hard to make sense of the repeats; in my score, every half is given again but it seemed that we only heard one half of each variation being recycled. Not that it mattered over much as the work itself is amiable but slight, with a pretty fair sharing of the labour and exposure between the instruments – perhaps a slight leaning towards the upper line. How about Cobcroft’s cello as a substitute for the bassoon? Well, of course it altered the interplay of colours but there’s not much point going all precious over an all-purpose workmanlike score like this one.
With the program’s concluding Gassenhauer, the trio worked together to better effect than in the preceding Mozart trio. We heard a repeat of the 105-bar exposition which I find is more often omitted, but was welcome here because it gave Boud the occasion to generate a few finely woven strands right from her first solo exposure in bar 12, and later in the movement between bars 184 and 192. Still, most of the clarinet’s work is in tandem with the cello and these musicians sounded comfortably balanced.
The Adagio holds some eloquently interwoven moments for cello and clarinet but I think the keyboard part dominates, not least because it is remarkably active. From bar 26 to bar 53 – the core of the movement – the piano is prominent with melodic content or rapid-fire accompaniment – well, rapid-fire compared to its competition. Here, Cobcroft shone with a clear penetration from his opening statement of the main E flat melody and in his mirror-imaging of Boud, e.g. bars 50 to 52.
The finale’s variations on Weigl’s popular tune came across with loads of drive and clear enjoyment, as in the piano solo Variation 1 and its pendant for clarinet and cello. And it was a pleasure to come across the vigorous return to ensemble status in Variation 3 in bar 61. Boud’s clarinet enjoyed a few exposed moments, as in the response to Cobcroft across bars 132 and 126, but it’s almost as if the composer remembered his wind line in the last variation and gave it a broad canon with the cello, even if everything stops for a sudden keyboard cadenza before the 6/8 syncopated romp home.
An enjoyable recital, in the end, made so by Boud’s liquid sound which disguised with high skill the problems of working through this music on a limited instrument. Across each of her four contributions to the exercise, you heard no irregularities in rhythm or squawks to interrupt the smooth amplitude of her delivery She didn’t elaborate on the difficulties in fabricating an even sound delivery from her two instruments which might have made us more aware of her labour of love in promulgating the older clarinet. But I suspect that most if us were happy to just bask in the warmth of this entertaining, non-aggressive music-making.
O'Connell the Music 