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RATED 5 STARS #1 CHAMBER MUSIC CD MOZART WIND SERENADES K.36

MOZART SCHOLAR, AUDIOPHILE & AUTHOR | SAN FRANCISCO CA & HONOLULU HI | 06/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RATED 5-STARS BY MOZART AUDIOPHILES #1 PERIOD INSTRUMENT CHAMBER MUSIC CD MOZART WIND SERENADES [WIND SEXTETS] K.361, K.375, K.388 & DIVERTIMENTI K.240, K.252, K.253, K.270!



CD REVIEWER NOTE TO AMAZON.COM READERS: I TYPE WITH LARGE CAP LETTERS TO READ WHAT I WRITE BECAUSE I AM A 100% DISABLED DECORATED VIETNAM VETERAN AND AM ALMOST BLIND WITH MACULAR DEGENERATION. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAPS MAY CAUSE YOU. ~PATRICK HILL, MOZART SCHOLAR & AUTHOR~



WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART [1756 - 1791]

WIND SERENADES K.361, K.375, K.388

DIVERTIMENTI K.240, K.252, K.253, K.270

PERFORMED BY CONCERTMASTER CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD &

THE AMADEUS WINDS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE



CD REVIEW

THIS SUPERB 2-CD SET FEATURES THE AMADEUS WINDS DELIVERING A SPELLBINDING PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S WIND SEXTETS WITH HIS MOST SERENE SERENADES AND DIVERTIMENTI COMPOSED AS ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC!



THE AMADEUS WINDS ARE RENOWNED AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S TOP RATED PERIOD INSTRUMENT CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLES AND THEY DELIVER A WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S WIND SERENADES AND DIVERTIMENTI ON THIS 2-CD SET THE WAY MOZART WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THEM TO BE PLAYED AND TO BE HEARD! SOFTER THAN MODERN CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTS, THE SOUND QUALITY OF THE AMADEUS WINDS'S PERIOD INSTRUMENTS EXHIBITS CHAMBER MUSICAL PERFECTION SO THE AUDIENCE HEARS EVERY MUSICAL NOTE COMPOSED BY MOZART.



MOZART'S SERENADE GRAN PARTITA K.361 HAS BEEN REGARDED FOR THE LAST 250 YEARS AS ONE OF HIS GREATEST CLASSICAL MUSIC MASTERPIECES. THERE IS A MAGICAL MOMENT IN THE FILM AMADEUS IN WHICH THE VILLAN ANTONIO SALIERI LISTENS FOR THE FIRST TIME TO MOZART'S GRAN PARTITA K.361. SALIERI'S TEAR JERKING DESCRIPTION OF GRAN PARTITA'S THIRD MOVEMENT ADAGIO IS QUOTED AS FOLLOWS: "ON THE PAGE IT LOOKED NOTHING. THE BEGINNING SIMPLE, ALMOST COMIC. JUST A PULSE - BASSOONS AND BASSET HORNS - LIKE A RUSTY SQUEEZEBOX. THEN SUDDENLY - HIGH ABOVE IT - AN OBOE, A SINGLE NOTE, HANGING THERE UNWAVERING, TILL A CLARINET TOOK OVER AND SWEETENED IT INTO A PHRASE OF SUCH DELIGHT! THIS WAS NO COMPOSITION BY A PERFORMING MONKEY! THIS WAS A MUSIC I HAD NEVER HEARD. FILLED WITH SUCH LONGING, SUCH UNFULFILLABLE LONGING, IT HAD ME TREMBLING. IT SEEMED TO ME THAT I WAS HEARING A VOICE OF GOD."



ABOUT MOZART'S DIVERTIMENTI & SERENADES ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC

IN THE 18TH CENTURY, ONE OF MOZART'S SPECIALTIES WAS COMPOSING FESTIVE ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC CALLED DIVERTIMENTI AND SERENADES TO BE PLAYED AS BACKGROUND MUSIC BY A SMALL CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE AT OUTDOOR SOCIAL EVENTS SUCH AS NAME DAYS, BIRTHDAYS, NEW YEAR'S FESTIVITIES, WEDDINGS, AND SCHOOL GRADUATION CELEBRATIONS WHERE PARTY GUESTS ENJOYING A DRINKS AND MEALS. THE WELL-TO-DO PATRON'S OF MOZART'S ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC [ALSO CALLED CHAMBER MUSIC] WERE USUALLY THE ARISTOCRACY IN MOZART'S NATIVE SALZBURG AND VIENNA. AT SOME ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC OCCASIONS, MOZART HIMSELF OFTEN PLAYED THE SOLO VIOLIN, VIOLA, AND PIANO PASSAGES OF HIS DIVERTIMENTI AND SERENADES.



ALTHOUGH MOZART'S DIVERTIMENTI AND SERENADES WERE FUN LIGHT HEARTED CHAMBER MUSIC UNLIKE HIS SERIOUS SYMPHONIES AND CONCERTOS WHICH WERE INTENDED TO BE PERFORMED IN A THEATRE OR CONCERT ROOM, MOZART'S ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC [ALSO CALLED CHAMBER MUSIC] OFFERS CLASSICAL MUSIC ENTHUSIASTS THE SAME BEAUTY, CHARM, AND UNIQUE QUALITY AS HIS MORE SERIOUS MATURE CLASSICAL WORKS.



THE HUGE ADVANTAGE OF LISTENING TO MOZART'S DIVERTIMENTI AND SERENADES PERFORMED BY A SMALL CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE VERSUS A LARGE ORCHESTRA IS THE SUPERIOR PERFECT SOUND OF PERIOD INSTRUMENTS HEARD BY THE AUDIENCE THAT IS TONALLY EXCELLENT, CLOSE UP, AND NATURALLY BALANCED!



ABOUT CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD & ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC [AAM]

CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD IS A WORLD RENONWED ENGLISH CONDUCTOR, CONCERTMASTER, HARPSICHORDIST, WRITER AND SCHOLAR OF MUSIC. IN 1973, CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD FOUNDED THE ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC (AAM), ONE OF THE WORLD'S FIRST AND FOREMOST PERIOD-INSTRUMENT ORCHESTRAS. CONCERTS ACROSS SIX CONTINENTS AND OVER 250 RECORDINGS SINCE ITS FORMATION IN 1973 DEMONSTRATE THE AAM'S PRE-EMINENCE IN CLASSICAL MUSIC FROM THE PERIOD 1600 TO 1850.



ABOUT AMADEUS WINDS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

FOUNDED IN 1983 BY THE FAMED OBOIST STEPHEN HAMMER TO PERFORM MOZART'S MOST POPULAR CHAMBER MUSIC ON PERIOD INSTRUMENTS, THE AMADEUS WINDS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE MUSICIANS ARE:

*STEPHEN HAMMER & MARC SCHACHMAN [OBOE]

*ERIC HOEPRICH & LAWRENCE MCDONALD [CLARINET]

*DENNIS GODBURN & ROBIN HOWELL [BASSOON]

*LOWELL GREER & WILLIAM PURVIS [HORN]

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