Netherlands Wind Ensemble
Complete Philips Recordings
rec. 1968-77, ADD
ELOQUENCE 4840240 [17 CDs: 862]
The Philips recordings of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble are reissued complete here and include a number of discs released for the first time on Decca CD. It allows the listener unimpeded access to a near decade-long triumph of quirky booklet art and superb instrumental standards. Though they had their rivals on disc, such as the London Wind Soloists and Willi Boskovsky’s Vienna Mozart Ensemble, such was the recorded quality and the rich sense of characterisation generated by the NWE that their discs stood apart. Here’s the perfect chance to acquaint yourself with this great ensemble.
If the discs had been assembled in chronological order of recording one would start with CD 13, the disc that included that miraculous recording of Dvořák’s Wind Serenade, but a sensible accommodation actually ensures that the first eight discs are devoted to the music of Mozart, one of the first complete cycles of the wind music on disc. The Divertimentos occupy the first three CDs and all were recorded in De Doelen in Rotterdam. I can’t imagine a better judged recording or acoustic – in terms of balance, breadth and ensemble-capturing perfection. It allows the ensemble’s plangency full rein in the Andante grazioso of K166, in the precision of ensemble and matched articulation of the Theme and Variations opening movement of K253, and in the refined beauty of the Serenade K375, which can be found in CD 4.
Edo de Waart directed the ensemble in its early days – the ensemble had actually been founded as a wind quintet in 1959 but expanded in size – and if you need a Gran Partita that promotes tonal blend and clarity, perfectly balanced, then this 1969 performance still sounds beautiful, over 50 years on. Two LPs intersperse Divertimentos and Duos with Notturni – treasurable if brief opportunities for three singers, Elly Ameling, Elisabeth Cooymans and Peter van der Bilt, to be accompanied by instrumental soloists, George Pieterson, Gert van Keulen and Aart Rozenboom (playing variously clarinet and basset horn). The six Notturni are, in the main, no more than two minutes in length and hardly call for much in the way of vocal virtuosity but they offer a charming example of exemplary collegiate music-making. For these LPs, Philips dispensed with its usual sleeve design – the set reproduces the original miniaturised LPs – preferring a rather more conventional and cultured look. They’re also the only discs where the ensemble thins down to accommodate Horn Duos and the Divertimenti for three instruments.
The final Mozart disc is CD 8, arrangements for winds by Johann Georg Tribensee of music from Don Giovanni and Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Tribensee was a Bohemian oboist active in Vienna and Prague who played in the premiere of The Magic Flute. His ingenious arrangements are perfectly suited to the demands of the wind ensemble and they’re played with bravura wit by the NWE. Speaking of wit, on no account overlook the equally life-enhancing Rossini arrangements of Wensel Sedlak, another Bohemian, but this time a clarinettist and expert orchestral playing best remembered for his ‘Harmonie’ arrangements of music by, for example, Hummel. The high spirits of the music are reflected in the waggish LP cover, a barbering scene of some colour and drollery.
Of more seriousness perhaps is CD 10, which contains three Octet-Partitas of Franz Krommer, recorded in 1977. This LP gave the music international exposure. It’s marvellous music, the beautifully voiced slow movement of the F major contrasting with the explosive contrasts of the similar movement of the E flat major. One couldn’t imagine a more vivid and generous recording than this. Beethoven occupies the next disc, principally the Octet, Op.103 and Sextet, Op.71 in performances that are vital, and alert, and because of the nature of the ensemble a touch tangier than the rival recording made by the London Wind Soloists. The NWE missed few opportunities to promote their discs. For the multi-composer LP called ‘Little Marches by Great Masters’ – who included Beethoven, CPE Bach, the Haydns (Joseph and Michael) and others - they dressed up in military uniforms jauntily surrounding a smoking cannon. 40 minutes of bracing little marches included especially diverting examples from the less well-known Antonín Vranický and Antonio Rosetti.
CD 13 needs little introduction, though it represented the NWE’s first disc. That Dvořák Serenade still holds it place in the catalogues. De Waart directs with admirable poise, the music is thoroughly idiomatic and warmly textured. The original coupling is reproduced, of course; Gounod’s attractive Petite Symphonie and the Minuet and Finale D72 by Schubert. But all ears will be on the Dvořák. Two discs are devoted to Richard Strauss’ wind music. The Sonatina No.1 ‘From an Invalid’s Workshop’ and the Symphony ‘The Happy Workshop’ are both symphonic in breadth and brilliantly scored. De Waart’s direction in these 1970-71 recordings is masterly and the ensemble shows it’s fully up to the colouristic demands of the music. The penultimate disc unleashes Stravinsky soloists, pianist Theo Bruins in the Concerto for Piano and clarinettist George Pieterson in the Ebony Concerto whilst the Symphonies of Wind Instruments and the Octet are also here, the whole album directed by de Waart. For admirers of both ensemble and George Anthiel, the final disc is for you. Not only is this recorded live (at the 1976 Holland Festival) but it’s received with impressive applause. Antheil’s Ballet mécanique is excitingly barmy whilst A Jazz Symphony feints at Milhaud but then goes its own way for six minutes. The finale of the First Violin Sonata - drivingly mechanistic and somewhat nuts – is followed by the Second Sonata. Hard-working Vera Beths is accompanied by Reinbert de Leeuw in these two works.
That, then, completes the 17 CDs in this box. Peter Quantrill’s fine booklet notes include quotations from de Wart from a new interview. The players of the NWE were drawn from leading Dutch ensembles and their performances prized beauty of tone, discipline of execution and precision of articulation. Their resultant Philips legacy stands as an imperishable example of dedication. The remastering sounds glorious, and so do the performances.
Jonathan Woolf
Contents
CD 1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimenti KV 166, 240, 213, 252
Edo de Waart
rec. August 1969, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimenti KV 186, 253, 289
Adagio KV 411
Edo de Waart
rec. August 1969, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 3
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimenti KV 196f, 270, 196e
Adagio KV 410
Edo de Waart
rec. August 1969, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 4
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Serenade KV 375
Serenade KV 388 ‘Nacht Musik’
Edo de Waart
rec. November 1968, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Serenade KV 361 ‘Gran Partita’
Edo de Waart
rec. March 1969, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CDs 6–7
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Notturni
Divertimenti KV 439b
Duos for two horns
Elly Ameling (soprano)/Elisabeth Cooymans (soprano)/Peter van der Bilt (baritone)
rec. 1972-73, Doopsgezinde Church, Amsterdam: Grote Zaal, Concertgebouw
CD 8
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) (arr. Johann Georg Triebensee)
Don Giovanni, KV 527
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, KV 384
rec. November 1973, Doopsgezinde Church, Amsterdam
CD 9
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) (arr. Wenzel Sedlak)
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Overtures: Corradino, Semiramide: L’italiana in Algeri
rec. 1977, Amsterdam
CD 10
Franz Krommer (1759-1831)
Octet Partitas
rec. April 1977, The Netherlands
CD 11
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Octet ∙ March ∙ Rondino ∙ Sextet ∙ Quintet
rec. April and June 1975, The Netherlands
CD 12
Marches for Wind Ensemble
C.P.E. Bach • Beethoven • Joseph Haydn • Michael Haydn • Rosetti • Vranický
rec. March 1972, The Netherlands
CD 13
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Wind Serenade
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Petite Symphonie
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Minuet and Finale
Edo de Waart
rec. April 1968, Grote Zaal, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
CD 14
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Sonatina ‘From an Invalid’s Workshop’
Suite for 13 Wind Instruments
Edo de Waart
rec. August 1971, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 15
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Symphony for Wind Instruments ‘The Happy Workshop’
Serenade for Wind Instruments: Andante
Edo de Waart
rec. December 1970-January 1971, De Doelen, Rotterdam
CD 16
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
Ebony Concerto
Symphonies of Wind Instruments & Octet
Theo Bruins (piano)/George Pieterson (clarinet)/Edo de Waart
rec. April 1974, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
CD 17
George Antheil (1900-1959)
Ballet Mécanique
A Jazz Symphony
Violin Sonatas No 1 (finale only) No.2
Reinbert de Leeuw (piano): Vera Beths (violin)
rec. 1977, Muziekcentrum, Utrecht
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