In Philips' complete Mozart Edition, this volume of miscellaneous chamber music for strings and winds ranks a bit above the earliest operas and somewhat below the sacred music. Of course, the music is uniformly transcendent and the performances are consummately elegant, but even for the heartiest Mozart enthusiast, a disc of early chamber works is unlikely to be on heavy rotation. Still, there is plenty of music here which is as fine in its way as anything Mozart ever composed: from the delightful "Kegelstadt" Trio for ...
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In Philips' complete Mozart Edition, this volume of miscellaneous chamber music for strings and winds ranks a bit above the earliest operas and somewhat below the sacred music. Of course, the music is uniformly transcendent and the performances are consummately elegant, but even for the heartiest Mozart enthusiast, a disc of early chamber works is unlikely to be on heavy rotation. Still, there is plenty of music here which is as fine in its way as anything Mozart ever composed: from the delightful "Kegelstadt" Trio for piano, clarinet and viola to the exquisite Adagio & Rondo for flute, oboe, viola, cello and glass harmonica to the sublime Quintet for string quartet and clarinet. And the performances are likewise as fine in their way as everything else in the Mozart Edition from the highly polished Beaux Arts Trio in the Piano Trios to the sweetly lyrical William Bennett with the Grumiaux Trio in the Flute Quartets to the always reliable and often inspired Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber...
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