The Akademie für alte Musik Berlin was among the pioneers in historically informed performance in what was then East Germany in the early 1980s, and the group continues to issue innovative material. The Mozart wind serenades and partitas have not often been played on historical instruments, and this release, pairing the K. 361 and K. 375 serenades, shows what can be done with these instruments. One might have wished that the documentation had specified what instruments were used and that the third large Mozart wind work ...
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The Akademie für alte Musik Berlin was among the pioneers in historically informed performance in what was then East Germany in the early 1980s, and the group continues to issue innovative material. The Mozart wind serenades and partitas have not often been played on historical instruments, and this release, pairing the K. 361 and K. 375 serenades, shows what can be done with these instruments. One might have wished that the documentation had specified what instruments were used and that the third large Mozart wind work from this period, the Serenade for Winds, K. 388, had been included, for, in that strikingly serious work, Mozart pushed the winds to their limits. That's what happens, albeit with a slightly less extreme sound, in this pair of serenades, where the historical instruments buzz, whine, and punch sharply. These sounds were ruthlessly bred out of wind instruments over the course of the 19th century, and for those unfamiliar with hearing Mozart played this way, it may be quite a shock....
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