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Quintessence Saxophone
Quintet
Moving Mozart
CPO multichannel SACD 777 134-2,
[55:14]
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Selections:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791) (ARRANGED)
1. 25 plus [Symphony No. 25 KV183] (4’43")
2. Rondo alla turca a little bit blue [KV331]
(3’53")
3. The Magic Sax [KV620] (7’07")
4. Dies Irae [from Requiem KV626] (4’20")
5. Adagio for English Horn and String trio
[KV580a] (5’38")
6. Figaro’s Scheidung [KV492] (5’14")
7. Ave Verum Corpus [KV618] (4’42")
8. Fugue for two pianos [KV426] (4’07")
9. Symhonie 40, 1st movement [KV550] (5’49")
10. Laudate Dominum [KV339, 5] (4’32")
11. Eine kleine Nachtmusik Rondo [KV525] (5’06")
Arrangements by
Uli Lettermann (except 2 & 11 by Harlmut
Salzmann)
Quintessence Saxophone Quintet:
Uli Lettermann, soprano sax
Hartmut Salzmann, alto sax
Tom Gostenmeier, tenor sax(1,2,7,8,10,11)
Anatole Gomersall, tenor sax (3,4,5,6,9)
Andreas Menzel, tenor sax
Bernd Stich, baritone sax
Recorded at Schloss Nordkirchen, Oranienburg,
January 14 & 15, April 30-May 1, 2005.
I think to get an idea of the general mood
of this CD we need to look at the inside booklet
and see the photos of this cheerful combo
and in the individual pictures they are all
wearing Mozart wigs! This is definitely a
fun record and those sensitive to Jazzed up
Classics better leave this one alone. Personally
I don’t mind changing pieces so long as it
works; sadly for me this well played and recorded
disc doesn’t.
We start off with the first movement of Symphony
No.25 which was used at the start of "Amadeus".
The first time I played the CD I found it
jarring but in the right (late night) mood
it might be fun but I’d much rather hear the
original or real jazz. The piano"
rondo alla turca" is given a bluesy treatment
which is OK but I think I know the piece too
well and find it very inappropriate. It starts
off quite cheerfully but then goes all haywire
after a minute for no real rhyme or reason!
In the overture "Magic Flute" they
sound off key at times and what is a spine
chilling piece is really not that thrilling.
I think that the arrangements are similar
to that used for Bach or Debussy which were
well worked by Jacques Loussier but I don’t
personally think works for Mozart. It seems
fine to play around with "Eine kleine
Nachtmusik" which cheerfully ends this
disc but I don’t think you can do the same
with "Ave Verum Corpus". As for
the piece from the "Requiem" I thought
it naïf but I suppose if you don’t know
the original you might quite like it!
This is an SACD and I think as a demonstration
record (I played it on a good stereo system-Cambridge
CD player) it works reasonably well and it
could be good for parties or in the car. For
lovers of the saxophone rather than Mozart
is my verdict; technically fine but generally
musically misguided. I do hope that some people
out there like it!
David R Dunsmore
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