Search - Mozart :: The Wind Serenades of Mozart, plus Cosi fan tutte & The Marriage of Figaro: 2 CD set

The three original works by Mozart recorded here are without question among the finest (and most serious) works ever conceived for the medium. While they are among the most performed of all wind music, the circumstances and dates of their composition remain shrouded in controversy. A number of studies and several events of the last 25 years have shed important light on the background and chronology of the three pieces. The wind octet consisting of pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons was one of the most popular instrumental combinations of the Classic and early Romantic eras. It had a special name?Harmoniemusik?which only later became used as a general term for any combination of wind instruments. The three original works by Mozart recorded here are without question among the finest (and most serious) works ever conceived for the medium. Arrangements of operas, such as these by Giovanni Went (Johann Nepomuk Wendt), were commonly made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, primarily as courtly entertainment. In a performance like this, the specific dramatic situation of each aria seems insignificant. Meant as entertaining background music, these excerpts should be joyously familiar to many listeners. © 2002 Robert Levin