Andreas von Doebeln wrote:

>I don't kow if Weber is too underrated.  His clarinet works are still
>played, "Oberon" is still played and "Der Freischuetz" is still regarded
>as to be Germanys national opera.  What more of importance has he done?

Starting from the ground floor, Weber wrote four piano sonatas which
are highly regarded by some folks.  He wrote two piano concertos and a
Konzertstuck for Piano and Orchestra; I like these more than the piano
sonatas.  There are two masses of note which have been recorded a few
times.

But, it's the operas that I really go for in addition to the clarinet
works.  The two Andreas mentioned are excellent as are Euryanthe, Peter
Schmoll, and Silvana.  The latter two were recorded recently by Marco Polo.
Too bad he never wrote a "clarinet" opera.  For Oberon, I like Kubelik on
DG; Kleiber is superb for Der Freischutz on DG as well.

Don Satz
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