Mozart's concertos for wind instruments, unlike those for piano and orchestra, were mostly written to order for other individuals. As a group, they're attractive works of modest dimensions, with writing that flatters the soloist but without the feeling of ambition found in the composer's larger works. Mozart famously disliked the flute and complained about the assignment that led to the composition of the flute concerto that opens this disc by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra -- a very smooth group of players whose talents ...
Read More
Mozart's concertos for wind instruments, unlike those for piano and orchestra, were mostly written to order for other individuals. As a group, they're attractive works of modest dimensions, with writing that flatters the soloist but without the feeling of ambition found in the composer's larger works. Mozart famously disliked the flute and complained about the assignment that led to the composition of the flute concerto that opens this disc by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra -- a very smooth group of players whose talents probably exceed those of any ensemble Mozart was familiar with. The challenge for the SCO, conductor Alexander Janiczek, and three soloists drawn from the orchestra's ranks is to keep themselves at Mozart's level and not to overwhelm pieces that, with the possible exception of the late (and invariably but inaccurately described as autumnal) Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, were directed more toward the Liebhaber (the dilettantes) than toward the Kenner (the...
Read Less
