Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mozart - Serenades for Wind Ensemble - Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble








Mozart - Serenades for Wind Ensemble - Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble
Winds | Eac, flac, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 223 MB
February 7, 2006 | EMI | RapidShare





The Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble (Berliner Philharmonisches Bläserensemble) has recorded Mozart’s Serenade in E-flat Major K375 and Serenade in B-flat Major K361 ‘Gran Partita’ for EMI Classics. The recording took place in April 2005 at the historic Jesus-Christus Kirche in Dahlem-Berlin and this CD marks the first appearance of the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble on EMI Classics.
Mozart, whose 250th birthday was celebrated in 2006, composed around a dozen Serenades and Divertimentos for wind instruments, some of them only single movements. He composed the Serenade in E-flat Major in 1781 as a sextet (two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons) for an informal performance at the home of friends on Saint Teresa’s day. In the event, it was performed three times that night, for three different Teresas. Mozart wrote, “As soon as the musicians had finished it at one site, they were led away and paid to play it at another.” The following year, possibly for performance by Emperor Joseph II’s Harmonie (Royal Wind Ensemble), he transformed it into an octet, by adding two oboes, the version performed on the current recording. The five-movement work includes a march-like Allegro maestoso in sonata form, two vigorous minuets, a romantic Adagio and a high-spirited finale.

If the Serenade in E-flat is a masterpiece on a smaller, less formal scale, the ambitious Serenade in B-flat Major, often referred to as ‘Gran Partita’, composed the same year, is a more symphonic experience. It is also utterly unique in its instrumentation and in the originality of its musical impulse. Believed by some to have been a musical offering from Mozart to Constanze Weber for their wedding, which took place on 4th August 1782, the work is scored for a pair each of oboes, bassoons, horns in F, horns in B-flat, clarinets and basset horns, joined by either a contrabassoon or a string bass (on this recording, a string bass). The invention of melody and harmony and the exploration of instrumental combinations and tonal contrast are formidable in a wide range of movements that include a Largo opening movement, a Finale marked Molto allegro and, in between, minuets and trios, an Adagio, a Romance and a Theme with six variations.
Albrecht Mayer, of the BPO Wind Ensemble, said: “We have played together for over ten years, so we are quite different from an ensemble of soloists: we play chamber music within the Orchestra. We are familiar with one another's pitch, intonation, articulation and phrasing so for us, playing [the Mozart Serenades] is just like playing in the orchestra.”
Theo Lap, Vice-President of A&R and International Marketing, said: “The Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble are arguably the best wind players in the world and this recording will set the standard for years to come.”
EMI Classics has made numerous recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since the 1930s. In recent years, the label has released discs by two ensembles drawn from the ranks of the Orchestra, The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Berlin Baroque Soloists.--EMI

CD Content

Mozart - Serenade in B flat, K361 'Gran Partita'
Mozart - Serenade in E flat, K375

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