As he enters his eighties,
Sir Charles Mackerras’s long and brilliant
career can be seen to have a number
of strands. Great 20th century
opera, especially Janáček
and Shostakovich, has been a life-long
mission; but significantly, he trained
as an oboist, and he has always had
a great enthusiasm for wind music, which,
added to his deep love of Mozart, gives
this issue special meaning.
In this early 1990s
recording, he was working with a wonderful
group of players from the Orchestra
of St. Luke’s in New York. From the
first chord it is easy to sense the
empathy between conductor and ensemble.
There is no attempt at ‘authenticity’
in the narrow sense; yet the whole performance
is alive with the true Mozartian spirit.
Rhythms bounce, reeds fizz, melodies
sing intoxicatingly and the glorious
colours Mozart relished in his wind
instruments are vividly exploited.
The honorary title
of this grandest of Mozart’s ‘entertainment’
pieces, ‘Serenade for Thirteen Winds’,
has always been misleading. There are
quite definitely twelve winds
on this recording, plus a string bass,
and this is generally held to be the
most workable version, though Mozart’s
autograph is not completely clear on
the point. Some conductors have used
a contra-bassoon, but, though this adds
a splendid organ-like depth to chords
such as those at the start, it doesn’t
have the flexibility or the general
resonance of the string bass.
There is a natural,
unfussy quality to Mackerras’s direction
of the work, yet his tempi are chosen
with the utmost care. After a spacious
introduction, his Allegro has
a brisk, even impatient tread, and contrasts
are made much of, in dynamics as in
articulation. Both minuets (2nd
and 4th movements) are delicious,
full of wit and charm. This is a real
strength of the performance, for it
is in these movements that some versions
sag, with conductors and players seeming
to go through the motions. No danger
of that here.
The glorious Adagio
is beautifully done; all the solo lines
are expressively moulded, yet Mackerras
always keeps the music moving, never
wallows. Here, as in the Romanze
of the fifth movement, an ideal
natural balance is achieved, which allows
the players to relax in the knowledge
that everything of importance can be
heard – never easy with such a disparate
group ... and of course a fine recording
helps enormously. Sir Charles also seizes
any opportunity to bring out the darker
moments in the music, such as the restless
central portion of the Romanze.
The disc is completed
by a delightful set of variations in
movement six, and a full tilt final
Allegro molto, which seems to
say in the clearest terms ‘Come on,
it’s nearly closing time’, a sincere
emotion that not only Mozart himself,
but every wind player who has ever blown
a note will have experienced in all
its depth.
This is ‘background
music’ raised to the level of the sublime.
In a performance such as we have here,
it’s simply an unmissable treat.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
Members of the Orchestra of St.Luke’s/Sir Charles
Mackerras 
