David Shifrin, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Gerard Schwarz - Mozart: Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet (1985)

If there is a bel canto school of clarinet playing, Shifrin is surely its finest exponent. In the Mozart, he etched a legato line of impeccably fluid grace and subtle inflection... Shifrin traversed the gamut of his instrument with uncanny equanimity. Striking leaps, from the lowest bass notes to pitches in his flutelike upper range maintained their silver timbre and purity.

Shifrin was aided in this concerto by a specially designed instrument, one whose length and range was extended below that of the standard B-flat clarinet. With several additional baritone notes at his command, Shifrin was able to execute the piece more closely to the way Mozart originally composed it. The whole concerto took on a new depth, and the expanded range for the solo instrument placed Mozart's ideas in even bolder relief.