"Mozart always had a special affinity with wind instruments: for him they were essential components of his musical expression," claims French clarinettist Nicolas Baldeyrou, a globally renowned soloist who has performed with some of the greatest conductors and virtuosi: this album is the first volume of a complete set of Mozart’s chamber and concertante music involving the clarinet, which he has chosen to record on period instruments, "an authentic and revelatory experience, despite the technical challenges it presents". He has enlisted the help of his musical friends, all of whom are recognised as adept practitioners of modern instruments, but sustain a strong passion for period instruments... The programme of this first release includes the Serenades, K375 and K388, as well as Mozart’s Gran Partita, K361, a work on an exceptionally grand scale, with its line-up of thirteen players, its expansive duration, and its supreme musical quality, "rising to the level of Mozart’s greatest symphonies and operas".