Klaus Thunemann, who was born in 1937, originally—so the information on this new record tells us— ''aimed at the career of a pianist, but at the age of 18 he was captivated with the bassoon''; from 1962 to 1978 he was principal bassoon in the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg and since 1978 has taught at the Hochschule in Hanover. He is certainly a very accomplished player, undaunted by the considerable technical demands of the concerto's two outer movements and duly expressive in the Andante. His tone is rather too fruity and too dependent on vibrato for my taste, and his cadenza in the slow movement is perhaps on the long side, but the performance is by no means unattractive. Much the same can be said of the Clarinet Concerto, in which the soloist is Thomas Friedli, born in 1946, and principal clarinet of the Bern Symphony Orchestra since 1971. He studied with Jacques Lancelot in Paris, but the sound he produces is in fact very much less French in quality than is Klaus Thunemann's; he gives a thoroughly musicianly account of Mozart's last concerto, supported, as is K191, by a spruce accompaniment from the excellent Zurich Chamber Orchestra under Edmond de Stoutz.
On its own terms, then, this is a very pleasant disc; but you have only to listen to even a short sample of Gwydion Brooke's masterly account of K191 under Beecham on HMV, with his absolutely firm tone and rhythm, and his remarkably wide dynamic range, or to hear Jack Brymer's superb HMV performance of K622, which is mellow and sensitive without being unduly autumnal, to appreciate the difference between very good playing and outstanding playing. Beecham's coupling (which was first issued in 1960, but still sounds remarkably fresh) would still be my first choice, even though he makes two short cuts towards the end of the finale of K622: it also carries a bonus in the shape of the second Entr'acte from Thamos, K345 and the Haffner Wedding March, K249. Scarcely less good is the Marriner Philips coupling, again featuring Brymer (his third recording of K622), and with Michael Chapman giving a beautifully-turned and pleasantly chamber-musical account of K191. This has a different bonus in the shape of the Andante in C, K315, with Claude Monteux as the solo flute. Or you could even try Brymer's second recording of K622 with Sir Colin Davis (also Philips), backed by a very engaging performance of the Concerto for flute and harp, K299, with Hubert Barwahser and Osian Ellis as the distinguished soloists.'