Bernhard Crusell (1775-1838) was born in Nystad, Sweden in 1775 which, 34 years later, reverted to being the Finnish Uusikaupunki. His output consists almost exclusively of music involving the clarinet, of which he was also the leading exponent in the early decades of the 19th century. Judging by these three concertos, he followed in the footsteps of Krommer but brought the genre to the cusp of Romantic glamour, with Weber and Spohr and Hummel. He doesn’t quite scale the heights, plumb the depths or achieve that sublime “smiling through tears” quality of Mozart’s two masterpieces for the instrument.

If I had to describe this music in one word it would be...