Clarinet Concertos by Robert Stark (1847-1922)

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming on the Paladino label:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/klarinettenkonzerte/hnum/8298271

Can anyone fathom the cover?

[pcc]

Looks a bit like a boxing glove. Why - I couldn't say.

[eschiss1]

Free Library Philadelphia has his (first?) 3 concertos, I think (Opp.4, 13 and 50); one can download a reduction for clarinet and piano (1895) of his 3rd concerto from IMSLP here.

[Alan Howe]

'Stark' in German means 'strong'. You have to be strong to box. 

[edurban]

This disc seems to have been crowd-funded and has a Facebook page devoted to the project.  The works recorded include the concertos 2 & 3, the Waltzer-Capriccio and Romance.  I know nothing about the composer, but he wrote a number of clarinet etudes and there's a Serenade for 2 clarinets, basset-horn and bass clarinet, Op.55 on Youtube.  There's also a sonata for 2 clarinets and basset-horn in g minor and endless arrangements, and Heaven-knows what else...

Does anyone have biographical info?

David

[eschiss1]

2 links from the IMSLP composer category:

Baker/Remy (1919)  (contains biographies of Ludwig Stark (1831-84) and Robert Stark (1847-1922); a lot of those arrangements you mention may be by "L. Stark", Ludwig, not Robert, unless I'm mistaken? But not all.)
and
Biography in German (PDF from a server hosted at University of Würzburg.)

[navy.p@voila.fr]

Try also those by Ernesto Cavallini (1807-74) on CPO 777 948-2 (2015 release) nicknamed the "Paganini of the clarinet (no less !!)

[TerraEpon]

That one is on my wishlist.
Cavallini was a fantastic clarinet writer, and while I dunno about his concerti, his accompaniments for his Eb clarinet pieces are really pretty bad. Still the samples for the concerto disc sound nice.

[Alan Howe]

Now back to Stark, please. He's much later than Cavallini.

[eschiss1]

Well, one can't say much about the orchestration from it but the clarinet/piano reduction of Stark no.3 is, again, @ IMSLP...