Mozart - The Wind Concertos / AAM, Hogwood [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
It would be hard to find more appealing treatments of Mozart's wind concertos than these from Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, featuring a distinguished group of period-instrument soloists. Leading the way, and playing a deliciously mellow-sounding basset clarinet, Anthony Pay gives a splendid account of what is surely Mozart's most beautiful concerto, the Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622. Pay's shadings are soft and natural, his embellishments simply marvelous, and he and Hogwood are right on the mark when it comes to tempo, expression, and accent. Another delight is the spirited and expressive playing of Lisa Beznosiuk, both in the Flute Concerto, K. 313, and in the Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299, where she shares solo honors with Frances Kelly. Michel Piguet is a formidable soloist in the Oboe Concerto, K. 314, and Danny Bond achieves wonders with a period instrument in the Bassoon Concerto, K. 191. Not to be outdone, Anthony Halstead delivers crisp, athletic work in the various concertos and concerto movements for horn, and manages to get a wonderfully fat tone from both of his instruments, modern copies of valveless period horns. Hogwood and the Academy give dependably bold, energetic readings across the board, their playing full of verve in the tuttis and suitably transparent in the quiet pages. While the recordings, made between 1984 and 1993, are all quite good, the works for horn benefit from a particularly effective engineering job, with sound that is exceptionally well balanced and silky. --Ted Libbey

Tracks:

Clarinet Concerto In A Major, K622: I Allegro
Clarinet Concerto In A Major, K622: II Adagio
Clarinet Concerto In A Major, K622: III Rondo: Allegro
Oboe Concerto In C Major, K314: I Allegro aperto
Oboe Concerto In C Major, K314: II Adagio non troppo
Oboe Concerto In C Major, K314: III Rondo: Allegretto

Tracks:

Flute And Harp Concerto In C Major, K299: I Allegro
Flute And Harp Concerto In C Major, K299: II Andantino
Flute And Harp Concerto In C Major, K299: III. Rondeau: Allegro
Andante For Flute And Orchestra In C Major, K315
Bassoon Concerto In B Flat Major, K191: I. Allegro
Bassoon Concerto In B Flat Major, K191: II. Andante ma adagio
Bassoon Concerto In B Flat Major, K191: III. Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto
Flute Concerto No. 1 In G Major, K313: I. Allegro maestoso
Flute Concerto No. 1 In G Major, K313: II. Adagio ma non troppo
Flute Concerto No. 1 In G Major, K313: III. Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto

Tracks:

Concerto In E Flat Major, K 447: I. Allegro
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 447: II. Romance: Larghetto
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 447: III. Allegro
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 417: I. (Allegro)
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 417: II. Andante
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 417: III. Rondo (Allegro)
Rondeau In E Flat Major, K 371
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 495: I. Allegro maestoso
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 495: II. Romance: Andante cantabile
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 495: III. Rondo: Allegro vivace
Concerto In D Major, K 412: I. Allegro
Concerto In E Flat Major, K 495: II. Rondo: Allegro
Rondo In D Major, K 514

Amazon.com essential recording

It would be hard to find more appealing treatments of Mozart's wind concertos than these from Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, featuring a distinguished group of period-instrument soloists. Leading the way, and playing a deliciously mellow-sounding basset clarinet, Anthony Pay gives a splendid account of what is surely Mozart's most beautiful concerto, the Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622. Pay's shadings are soft and natural, his embellishments simply marvelous, and he and Hogwood are right on the mark when it comes to tempo, expression, and accent. Another delight is the spirited and expressive playing of Lisa Beznosiuk, both in the Flute Concerto, K. 313, and in the Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299, where she shares solo honors with Frances Kelly. Michel Piguet is a formidable soloist in the Oboe Concerto, K. 314, and Danny Bond achieves wonders with a period instrument in the Bassoon Concerto, K. 191. Not to be outdone, Anthony Halstead delivers crisp, athletic work in the various concertos and concerto movements for horn, and manages to get a wonderfully fat tone from both of his instruments, modern copies of valveless period horns. Hogwood and the Academy give dependably bold, energetic readings across the board, their playing full of verve in the tuttis and suitably transparent in the quiet pages. While the recordings, made between 1984 and 1993, are all quite good, the works for horn benefit from a particularly effective engineering job, with sound that is exceptionally well balanced and silky. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

fluent musicality.......2006-02-18

The best recording that there is on the Natural horn (hand-horn). I have got some rival CDs by Koster, Brown, Greer, Baumann and Halstead's earlier Nimbus recording. The Hogwood/ AAM CD is definitely the best of the bunch owing to Mr Halstead's lovely, fluent musicality, and the superb orchestral playing under Mr Hogwood.

Enjoyable Clarinet, Weak Horn........2004-03-26

My first impression of this CD was that it had excellent recordings, for I only listened to the clarinet and oboe concertos, so I decided to buy it. The harp and flute concertos were, also, very enjoyable, but i did not particularly like the horn. I, myself, and a horn player, and I have a good idea of what kind of elements are expected in the Mozart horn concertos. The Allegro movement of the 1st concerto played (Hn. Concerto No.1 in E-flat Major) had a very shrill sound to it, and the tonguing was far too harsh. This also appeared in the Rondo Allegro movement of the 3rd concerto played (Hn. Concerto No.4 in E-flat Major). Near the beginning of the Rondo movement of the second played (Hn. Concerto No.3), the horn plays an arpegio up to a high B-flat (Which is fairly high for the horn), but this recording puts a lot of stress on the high B-flat, but all the notes should be even and have a consistant air stream. It was very painful to listen to. Even though these sections were relatively poor, I felt that the Romance: Larghetto movement of Hn. Concerto 1, and the Romance: Andante Cantabile movement of Hn. Concerto 4 were very nice. If you are seeking for a recording of the Horn Concertos, I wouldn't recommend this CD, however, if you are seeking the Clarient Concerto, or Oboe or Flute or Harp, I would absolutely recommend this, because they were simply excellent.

another fine recording from Hogwood and the AAM.......2003-01-11

These concertos are important additions to anyone's Mozart collection. Excellent performances on period instruments, extremely informative liner notes, clear, balanced, superb digital recordings.... everything we have come to expect from Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music. Highly recommended

Mozart: The Wind Concertos.......2001-01-13

I am partial to Hogwood and AAM for their interpretations of Mozart's works. The clarinet and oboe concertos with Pay and Piguet in particular are "reference standard" class. The flute and harp are very pleasing to listen to. The horn concerto is the weakest of the three (I'm stilling waiting for another Dennis Brain I guess), but this 3-CD set is still a particularly good value. For example, the single title "Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, Oboe Concerto / Hogwood", is listed by ...... for ....

A must-buy for the Mozart or period music fan.......2000-03-14

Quite simply, you haven't heard Mozart's wind concerti until you've heard this recording. This is as close as you can get to hearing the music as Mozart wrote it to be played. For instance, in the oboe concerto, concessions to the period style and Mozart's original score _must_ be made due to the sheer physical limitations of the original two-keyed instrument used in the recording, made in 1783. In the horn concerti, the tone color difference between the stopped and unstopped notes is remarkable; you can't get this kind of drastic effect on a modern valved instrument (although some might wonder if you'd _want_ to get this effect ;). Nonetheless, it provides a unique window into both late 18th century playing style and Mozart's compositional genius.

However, not only do the period instruments do justice to the timbres Mozart himself heard and used, but the use of 18th century original and reproduction instruments allows the _original_ editions of Mozart's music to be used. The ever popular Clarinet Concerto in A was, in fact, written for the deeper ranged basset horn (aka basset clarinet) in A, not a "regular" clarinet. Hence, all editions for clarinet must transpose several passages up an octave to avoid the lower notes of the basset horn not covered by the clarinet. This fundamentally changes the character of whole sections of the piece.

Finally, the musicians in this recording have made conscious choices in playing style not directly dictated by their instruments, from basic articulations and phrasing to trills and slurs, so that they perform the music in period late 18th century style. Those familiar with "modern" appoggiaturas, for instance, might be surprised at how they would have been originally played. All in all, if you like Mozart, you want this recording, even if you already own a modern edition of his wind concerti.

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