The multi-award-winning Scottish Chamber Orchestra returns with Weber Wind Concertos, the sixteenth album in its celebrated series with Linn. This recording gives the internationally-acclaimed principal musicians a chance to dazzle in Weber's virtuosic and thrilling concertos. Alexander Janiczek leads Maximilano Martín (clarinet), Peter Whelan (bassoon) and Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn) in a thrilling programme by the German composer Carl Maria von Weber.

The Clarinet Concerto No 1 and Concertino for clarinet & orchestra were composed at a pivotal time in the instrument's development. A new style of playing which was soft, full and rich in tone inspired several composers to write for the instrument, whilst inspiring Weber to write what would become one of the cornerstone's of the clarinet repertoire.

Weber's background as an opera composer is apparent in the entertaining and theatrical Bassoon Concerto. As Peter Whelan commented: ‘It's terrific fun to play because Weber writes for the bassoon as though it were a tenor in an opera—so you get to play lots of different characters … from jilted lover to comic clown.' For this performance Peter has reconstructed a version of the 1822 score rather than employing the commonly used 1865 version.

With a preponderance of chromatic pitches and the requirement of multiphonic chords, the virtuosic Horn Concertino is widely regarded as an extremely demanding work for soloists. Alec Frank-Gemmill commented: ‘Weber's clever combination of tunefulness with crazy special effects is a winner and was also unprecedented at the time.' In a unique twist Alec combines these interesting features with memories of melodies heard earlier in the piece to perform his own version of the cadenza.

A 24-bit 192 kHz studio master for this album is available from the Linn Records website.