London Symphony Orchestra – Mozart: Wind Concertos (2021) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Principal players of the London Symphony Orchestra display their virtuosic talents on this album of concertos for wind instruments by Mozart, recorded in concert with conductor Jaime Martín in the excellent acoustic of the Jerwood Hall at LSO St Luke’s.

Three of Mozart’s wind concertos are included: the Oboe Concerto (K314) with soloist Olivier Stankiewicz, the Clarinet Concerto (K622) performed by former LSO Principal Andrew Marriner, and the Horn Concerto No 2 (K417) played by Timothy Jones.

Complementing these works is a performance of the beautiful Sinfonia Concertante (K297b), in which oboist Juliana Koch, clarinettist Chris Richards, and bassoonist Rachel Gough join Timothy Jones in the solo roles.

Also included is a recording of Mozart’s popular Serenade No 10, ‘Gran Partita’, performed by the LSO Wind Ensemble.

Here is a welcome reminder that the players of the London Symphony Orchestra aren’t just consummate orchestral musicians, but also more than capable of stepping into the concerto soloist shoes more frequently inhabited by the big-name artists who guest with them. It’s also a generously proportioned reminder, given that this Mozart programme under the baton of Jaime Martín groups together the Oboe Concerto, K. 314, the Clarinet Concerto, K. 622, the Horn Concerto, K. 417, the Sinfonia concertante, K. 297b and the ‘Gran Partita”.

Production nuts and bolts first, and the performances were all recorded in the Jerwood Hall of LSO St. Luke’s, the concertos and the Sinfonia concertante in October 2019, and the “Gran Partita” slightly earlier, in 2015. The hall’s warmly natural clarity is a perfect match for this lucid-textured repertoire, and the positioning of the soloists themselves gently out in front, has been beautifully done.

On to the actual playing, and from the orchestra these are polished, graceful performances, the overall sound a smoothly mellow one striking a nice balance between lightly articulated lucidity and the warm fullness of their large forces. Martín plays things pretty straight on the whole – for instance there’s a bit more theatricality to the phrasing of Camerata Salzburg’s recording of the Oboe Concerto with François Leleux – but there’s still nimble, cheerful buoyancy aplenty. The Oboe Concerto is in fact actually one of the album highlights, thanks to oboist Olivier Stankiewicz’s perkily articulated gossamer-weight virtuosity, singing phrasing and neatly tucked, fluttering embellishments. Meanwhile clarinettist Andrew Marriner delivers all the poised lyricism you could hope for in the Clarinet Concerto’s famous Adagio; and likewise the orchestra.

Both the Sinfonia concertante, K. 297b and the “Gran Partita” have some tough recently recorded competition, the former in the form of Emmanuel Pahud’s recent Mozart in Paris programme for Erato with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and a starry line-up directed by Francois Leleux, and the latter from composer-clarinettist Mark Simpson’s 2021 Gramophone Award-shortlisted pairing of it with his own Geysir, his own line-up including oboist Nicolas Daniel. However both LSO readings stack up very well against their rivals, the “Gran Partita” shining for its combination of full, rich sound – fabulous in the magisterial opening – and its feather-light, lively humour. It genuinely sounds like party music. Likewise, the Sinfonia concertante reading is an immensely warm one, a joyous-sounding orchestra – listen out for some delectably ardently phrased horn moments – supporting the vivacious trio interactions of bassoonist Rachel Gough, oboist Juliana Koch, clarinettist Chris Richards.

Great stuff, and a nice one for collection builders in to boot. – Charlotte Gardner

Tracklist:
Disc 1 (01:22:48)
1. Jaime Martin, Timothy Jones & London Symphony Orchestra – Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 417: I. Allegro (06:49)
2. Jaime Martin, Timothy Jones & London Symphony Orchestra – Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 417: II. Andante (03:40)
3. Jaime Martin, Timothy Jones & London Symphony Orchestra – Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 417: III. Rondo. Allegro – Più allegro (03:42)
4. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314: I. Allegro aperto (07:19)
5. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314: II. Adagio non troppo (06:44)
6. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314: III. Rondo. Allegretto (06:14)
7. Andrew Marriner, Jaime Martin & London Symphony Orchestra – Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622: I. Allegro (12:19)
8. Andrew Marriner, Jaime Martin & London Symphony Orchestra – Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622: II. Adagio (06:43)
9. Andrew Marriner, Jaime Martin & London Symphony Orchestra – Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622: III. Rondo. Allegro (08:51)
10. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 (Final Cadenza by Tonia Ko): I. Allegro aperto (07:20)
11. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 (Final Cadenza by Tonia Ko): II. Adagio non troppo (06:44)
12. Jaime Martin, Olivier Stankiewicz & London Symphony Orchestra – Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 (Final Cadenza by Tonia Ko): III. Rondo. Allegretto (Cadenza by Tonia Ko) (06:23)

Disc 2 (01:18:46)
1. Rachel Gough, Chris Richards, Jaime Martin, Juliana Koch, London Symphony Orchestra & Timothy Jones – Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: I. Allegro (13:54)
2. Rachel Gough, Chris Richards, Jaime Martin, Juliana Koch, London Symphony Orchestra & Timothy Jones – Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: II. Adagio (08:29)
3. Rachel Gough, Chris Richards, Jaime Martin, Juliana Koch, London Symphony Orchestra & Timothy Jones – Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni (08:44)
4. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: I. Largo – Molto allegro (09:36)
5. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: II. Menuetto (08:34)
6. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: III. Adagio (05:45)
7. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: IV. Menuetto. Allegretto (04:33)
8. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: V. Romance. Adagio (05:59)
9. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: VI. Tema con variazioni (09:44)
10. LSO Wind Ensemble – Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”: VII. Finale. Molto allegro (03:28)

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mqs.link_L0nd0nSymph0ny0rchestraM0zartWindC0ncert0s20212496.part1.rar
mqs.link_L0nd0nSymph0ny0rchestraM0zartWindC0ncert0s20212496.part2.rar
mqs.link_L0nd0nSymph0ny0rchestraM0zartWindC0ncert0s20212496.part3.rar