Beethoven. Mozart quintets For Piano And Winds

…[O]utstanding…with Perahia's playing wonderfully refreshing in the Andante and a superb response from the four wind soloists… Clearly all the players are enjoying this rewarding music.

Historical recording, over 5 decades old, but still "in the mood"

Ensemble Dialoghi makes their harmonia mundi début with this program of quintets for piano and winds. A work of 'maturity,' which the twenty-eight year-old Mozart considered ''among his best,'' is paired with a 'youthful effort' penned by a twenty-six year-old Beethoven. Dating from an auspicious phase in each composer's career, both pieces were met with an enthusiastic reception. Beethoven, it was said, was inspired by Mozart's piece and composed his in tribute. The theatrical character of these works is not lost on the high-spirited virtuosos who make up this period-instrument ensemble.

Authentic and authoritative, these 1985 recordings of Mozart and Beethoven's quintets for piano and winds have almost everything going for them. Performing on a pianoforte modeled on a 1790 Viennese instrument, Jos van Immerseel is an adroit player, while the quartet drawn from the period instrument wind band Octophoros Paul Dombrecht on oboe, Elmar Schmid on clarinet, Piet Dombrecht on horn, and Danny Bond on bassoon are likewise all skillful instrumentalists.

Hungarian-born pianist Klára Würtz has amassed an astounding catalogue of recordings for Brilliant Classics, celebrated this year (a milestone birthday year for Klára) with this rich set of piano solos, song and chamber music collaborations, and concertante outings.

Hungarian-born pianist Klára Würtz has amassed an astounding catalogue of recordings for Brilliant Classics, celebrated this year (a milestone birthday year for Klára) with this rich set of piano solos, song and chamber music collaborations, and concertante outings.

Authentic and authoritative, these 1985 recordings of Mozart and Beethoven's quintets for piano and winds have almost everything going for them. Performing on a pianoforte modeled on a 1790 Viennese instrument, Jos van Immerseel is an adroit player, while the quartet drawn from the period instrument wind band Octophoros – Paul Dombrecht on oboe, Elmar Schmid on clarinet, Piet Dombrecht on horn, and Danny Bond on bassoon – are likewise all skillful instrumentalists. But while their playing is beyond contention – listen to their keen balances, their smooth ensemble, their unified rhythms – their interpretations miss the one thing that defines these works: their sense of fun..

Franz Danzi was not the creator of the wind quintet, which emerged out of various earlier forms of wind ensemble music and was crystallized by Beethoven Antoine Reicha. Danzi, an Italian-born associate of both Mozart and Beethoven, was inspired to take up the genre by the works of Reicha, which are a lot more Beethovenian in their harmonies and in their general level of seriousness. The nine wind quintets and three quintets for piano and winds recorded here are, in the main, genial and gentle works.