This is an engaging
and well produced program of wind music
both familiar and less common. Mozart’s
Serenade K388 is of course a
popular work, and deservedly so. The
unusual minor key gives the work a greater
sense of depth than most of the other
serenades, and although the ‘dark and
sombre’ description I‘ve read elsewhere
goes perhaps a bit far, there is certainly
plenty of drama and tension in the opening
Allegro. The instruments are
quite closely recorded, but this takes
nothing away from the pleasant atmosphere
of that most elegant of Andante movements,
and the voicing of the canon in the
Menuetto provides the utmost
in warmth and clarity. Of the other
versions of this piece I suspect the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on DG Galleria
would be many people’s choice, but with
wind playing like this I feel no need
to start casting around for comparisons.
I
know Janáček’s Mládí,
or ‘Youth’, from a recording by the
Prague Wind Quintet on Supraphon, coupled
with both of his string quartets played
by the Talich Quartet. In general the
quintett.wien are a little broader and
slightly less urgent sounding than the
Prague players, and the Czech wind sound
does have that more characterful acidic
sound East-European, and more texture-laden
vibrato than the Viennese group. This
may have been more like the qualities
which the composer had in mind, but
the quintett.wien has the edge in refinement
and accuracy in intonation, so it’s
a case of swings and roundabouts. I
have certainly been enjoying this new
recording a great deal, and it holds
plenty of that mix of surprising energy
and nostalgic melancholy for which we
love this music. I’ll keep the Prague
version for that wonderful Czech French
horn sound, but have great admiration
for the results in this version.
Werner Pirchner may
be a less familiar name to many, but
some may have discovered his satirical
wit and inventiveness on an ECM double
CD release from 1986 called ‘EU’. The
title, Streichquartett für Bläserquintett,
is a typical prod against pomposity,
but also has its origins in the original
version of some of the music, composed
for a film about the Tyrol, and using
a Tyrolean slave song to create a number
of variations. The later wind quintet
version adds a few more movements, and
on this recording the horn player Martin
Bramböck opens the work with a
sung version of this song, the text
being included in the booklet notes.
The Vienna Wind Soloists on ECM are
more fun than quintet.wien, swinging
out with plenty of gusto in the pseudo-waltzes,
the horn and bassoon reveling in raucousness
and farty noises wherever possible.
Despite all this larking around, their
playing in the final chorale is also
more moving than the quintett.wien.
All this said, I am glad to see Pirchner’s
name being aired once again, and listeners
need not fear that they are getting
a sub-standard performance on this new
disc. quintett.wien have great fun with
the score as well, and the allusion
to Malcolm Arnold in John Quinn’s booklet
notes is apt indeed, although there
are also some moments which put me in
mind of a kind of mad Aaron Copland.
I used to live near
Monmouth, and it is good to see my former
local record company Nimbus back on
its feet again. With solidly excellent
recordings like this we can hope for
a great deal more in the future. This
is one of the best wind quintet recordings
I have heard for a long time: close
and intensely detailed, but with plenty
of air and space around the musicians
as well, it is absolute demonstration
quality stuff.
Dominy Clements
for details
QuintettWien; Reinhold Brunner (bass clarinet)
(Mládí) 
