There has been no shortage of fine Mozart recordings coming from Britain, but the best policy is probably to relax and enjoy it. This is a superb program of familiar chamber pieces plus one novelty, a single-movement, incompletely orchestrated Adagio for English horn and strings, K. 580a. That richly lyrical piece is worth the price of the album by itself, and the strong performances of the standard works by Britain's young Ensemble 360 are the best kind of bonus. The lively, charismatic flute playing of Guy Esched in the ...
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There has been no shortage of fine Mozart recordings coming from Britain, but the best policy is probably to relax and enjoy it. This is a superb program of familiar chamber pieces plus one novelty, a single-movement, incompletely orchestrated Adagio for English horn and strings, K. 580a. That richly lyrical piece is worth the price of the album by itself, and the strong performances of the standard works by Britain's young Ensemble 360 are the best kind of bonus. The lively, charismatic flute playing of Guy Esched in the Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285, is a special standout, as is the level of detail achieved by the entire ensemble in the Quintet for piano and winds in E flat major, K. 452. This is one of the finest recordings of that work on the market -- sample the final couple of minutes of the Allegretto finale, a sterling example of the endlessly inventive and joyful genius of Mozart, to experience the enthusiastic flavor of the group's playing, and the slight and delightful evolution in...
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