Search - Gaudier Ensemble :: Mozart: Quintet for Piano and Wind / Horn Quintet / Oboe Quartet

Sparkle, elegance and wit

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 06/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a well-filled collection of Mozart chamber music by a group of Brits including pianist Susan Tomes and oboeist Douglas Boyd. The soloists in these numbers -- the Oboe Quintet K. 370, Horn Quintet K. 407, Quintet fragment K. 580b, and the famous Piano and Wind Quintet, K. 452 -- all play with a fruity but elegant pursuit of Mozart's creations. Tomes takes a back seat to no player in the piano quintet and is much better than a number of virtuosos including Uchida. Horn player Jonathan Williams consistently puts forth a full and marvelous sould without ever making the bell rattle. All told, this is 73 minutes of elegance you will enjoy for many years. It is one of the better Mozart chamber collections of recent years. BMG members can acquire this from the club as part of any promotion, lowering the $19 list price to something more reasonable. Amazon shoppers can probably find a used one for as much as $10 less and some new ones from dealers at two-thirds of list price. Whatever your decision, get this if you like Mozart and/or chamber music. You won't be disappointed if you seek subtlety, beauty, a high level of polish and fine ensemble work."

Uneven Recording

E. Lorge | Earth Human | 09/11/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although the performance is good, the recording is lacking brilliance and a bit muddy sounding. (Although I really like Hyperion as a rule of thumb, I seem to run into this problem from time to time with their recordings) .



Also, each piece sounds like it was recorded at a different location under differrent circumstances so that there is no real continuity throughout the CD. So if you don't listen to your discs straight through or you are not too much of an 'audiophile' then it shouldn't be a problem."