Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Philharmonic Wind Orchestra, Walter Gieseking :: Mozart: 16 Lieder/Quintet for Piano & Wind Instruments K452 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Walter Giesking, Philharmonia Wind Ensemble

Genuinely great recordings, but in murky sound

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's not much left to say in praise of these classic recordings, which have remained in the catalog since 1955. EMI didn't pair them originally. The 16 Mozart songs with Schwarzkopf and Gieseking came out separately from the Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds, which Gieseking and the first-desk wind players of the Philharmonia recorded along with the Beethoven quintet for the same instrumentation. Since the songs have been reissued repeatedly, if you don't want to duplicate them, you can get the two quintets on a Testament reissue.



I'd like to make a point about the sound. There's still quite a lot of noticeable microhone shatter in the Mozart songs wehnever Schwarzkopf's sings loud or above the stave. The quintet's sonics aren't distorted, but they are boxy, murky mono. Neither is a shining example. also, be aware that Geiseking's approach to Mozart was dainty. Dennis Brain recorded this work with his own ensemble in a more vigorous performance that comes on his EMI set f Mozart horn concertos with Karajan, itself a classic, but sadly, those sonics aren't the best, either."