Mozart: Wind Concertos

Album review

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 connoisseurs), to use Mozart's own distinction.
For the most part the group succeeds at showing its stuff without strutting it. The players break Mozart's lines down into more little detail than is usual, but they do it in logical, musical ways. We hear lots of inner lines in preference to a violin-heavy texture. The phrasing and articulation of the solos are precisely matched to that of the orchestral material they repeat -- and there are lots of delightful echo effects in each of these concertos. In this respect, having soloists drawn from the ranks of a very tight-knit group works to the performances' advantage.
The SCO's tone is silky, almost lush. Whether it has too much surface beauty for this music is a matter of debate. Sample the slow movement of the Flute Concerto in G major, K. 313. Usually taken as a sweet, ingratiating, rather insubstantial French confection, it has in this performance a deep warmth, an almost spiritual glow. Listeners who are "sent" by Mozart in a certain way may well find it revelatory, and even those who find the traditional interpretation more convincing will still marvel at the technical facility of the performers. Everything is captured in gloriously transparent Super Audio CD sound that fits the artistic aims of the performance perfectly.

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