Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Serenade in C minor, KV 388/384A (c.1781)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Rondino in E-flat major, WoO 25 (1793)
Octet in E-flat major, Op 103 (ca.1794)
MIB Wind Ensemble
rec. 2021, Villa San Fermo, Lonigo, Italy
CHANNEL CLASSICS CCS44122 [51]
For some reason I rarely seek out wind ensemble music for general listening, and receiving a recording as good as this one finds me kicking myself for being so neglectful. The largely Italian MIB Wind Ensemble is made up of leading players from major European and Italian orchestras, and it has a remarkably well-balanced sound, with perfect intonation and superlative musicianship all-round.
Mozart's Serenade K388 is a substantial work in four movements, the booklet notes for this release reminding us that it is “no friendly and polite little piece of entertainment, but a serious, sometimes threatening work” full of drama and complexity. Today it poses no avant-garde challenges, but you can imagine some handkerchiefs being wafted amongst 18th century audiences expecting galant amiability and being confronted with Mozart's sometime stormy opening Allegro. There is of course a tender lyricism amongst Mozart's operatic tensions, and the players here deliver well on the sharp contrasts that characterise that opening movement – as they do between the limpid Andante and imperious Menuetto that follow.
Beethoven's Rondino was probably intended as ‘Tafelmusik’ for the court of Maximilian Franz in Bonn, and while it has something of a filler function here it is interesting in its prominent use of horns, suggesting something of a pastorale atmosphere.
The joyous mood of Beethoven's Octet Op 103 is nicely captured here, the MIB players as ever delicious in their phrasing and collective observation of dynamics. Rhythmic bounce, eloquence of melodic line, delight in Beethoven's witty exchanges and refinement of texture are all here in abundance, and I can't imagine anyone having any complaints about such a performance.
There are of course numerous alternatives when it comes to recordings of these works. I still enjoy the Oslo Kammerakademi's recording of the Beethoven Octet (review), which has zippier tempi, the urgent squall of natural horns and the added 'whoomph’ of a double bass giving emphasis to the lower lines. Fans of wind ensemble music should of course be aware of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble's marvellous recordings, now brought together in a desirable box set from Decca Eloquence (review). Their Beethoven is recorded in the big empty Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam (which would still have been quite new in the 1970s) and is a bit faster in tempi than the MIB ensemble, though not by so much that they seem slow. The opposite is true for their Mozart K388, which is a bit more spacious and exploratory in its rubato under Edo de Waart's directorship. As for finding single discs with the same programme there is a release on the Supraphon label (SU4214-2) which has both the Serenade K388 and Octet Op 103 with the Philharmonia Octet, but in the end this coupling seems surprisingly rare. If you are looking for some excellent wind ensemble music played by an excellent wind ensemble then you can purchase this recording with absolute confidence.
Dominy Clements
Performers:
Rossana Calvi, Erika Rampin (oboe),
Corrado Orlando, Antonio Graziani (clarinet),
Andrea Bressan, Dennis Carli (bassoon),
Loris Antiga, Vincenzo Musone (horn)
Published: November 22, 2022
