In 1992, a programme for a concert given by Anton Stadler in Riga in March of 1794 was discovered, where he played the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Amazingly, this programme includes an engraving of the special 'Inventions Klarinette', or basset clarinet, that Stadler had with him to play Mozart’s music. Up until this time, no one knew what the basset clarinet looked like, and it came as a shock to see a long instrument with a bulbous bell on the end. This release on the Glossa label was the first time the work appeared played on an instrument as Stadler possessed.

In this recording, Mozart’s music for the clarinet and basset horn is heard in various settings, and all the works are associated with the clarinettist Anton Stadler (1753-1812). The Clarinet Concerto is the composer’s last concerto work, and shows the depth of his mature style. The selections from the opera 'La Clemenza di Tito' date from the same period (1791), representing yet another musical form. Lastly, the two works associated with the Masons, the 'Adagio' and the 'Maurerische Trauermusik', illustrate the quasi-religious underpinnings of the masonic movement expressed through the music’s majestic solemnity.

Listening on the same disc to the marvellous timbres of both Eric Hoeprich’s clarinet and Joyce DiDonato’s voice is a sublime experience.