Beethoven & Mozart: Quintets for Piano and Wind

2010

“There have never been any doubts about these performances. The horn playing in the Sinfoniaconcertante is unsurpassable and in the quintets Gieseking's lightness and his clarity and sense of style is simply beyond praise. The tempos are on the slow side in the first movement of the Mozart and the finale of the Beethoven but somehow with Gieseking, slow tempos have a way of seeming to be just about right. Richard Osborne's excellent notes quote a letter from Sidney Sutcliffe of touching modesty. Speaking of their run-through of the Mozart, he says, 'On reaching the Allegro moderato, the great man played two bars at an absolutely perfect tempo and then stopped and asked in the most gentle and hesitant manner, “Will that be all right for you?” So it was a most happy occasion although I found it a grave responsibility matching the artistry of my colleagues when Bernard [Walton], Cecil [James] and Dennis [Brain] were producing sounds of breath-taking beauty.' Breathtaking is the right word for all concerned here on one of the great chamber music records of the LP era. Considerable pains have been taken with the transfers, which now sound fresh and full bodied. Thoroughly recommended.”