Mozart: Flute Quartets / Galway, Tokyo String Quartet

$17.99
Label
RCA
Release Date
June 15, 2007
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Tokyo String Quartet Members
    • PERFORMER
      Sadao, Kazuhide, Harada, James, Isomura, Galway
    Product Details ⌄
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    2. II. Adagio

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    3. III. Rondeau

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    4. I. Andante

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    5. II. Tempo di menuetto

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    6. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    7. II. Theme: Andantino

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    8. II. Variation 1

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    9. II. Variation 2

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    10. II. Variation 3

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    11. II. Variation 4

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    12. II. Variation 5

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    13. II. Variation 6

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    14. I. Theme: Andante

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    15. I. Variation 1

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    16. I. Variation 2

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    17. I. Variation 3

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    18. I. Variation 4

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    19. II. Minuet

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    20. III. Rondo: Allegretto grazioso

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    21. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    22. II. Adagio

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway

    23. III. Rondeau: Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Tokyo String Quartet

      Performer: James Galway


According to Roger Lustig's well-researched programme notes, Mozart's self-declared dislike for the flute says more about the circumstances surrounding the composition of his works for the instrument than it does about any real hatred for the instrument itself. Furthermore, the performances of the Flute Quartets by James Galway and the Tokyo Quartet, here under review, speak equally eloquently for Mozart's evident care in their composition—this despite Hans Keller's dismissal of them.

The first two quartets, K285 and K285a were written in 1776/7 for the Dutch nobleman Dejean. The playing here is full of Mozartian grace and sensuous melodiousness. At the beginning of the possibly inauthentic C major Quartet, K285b, Galway achieves a delightful liquid quality. The later Quartet, K298 is more substantial and draws playing of haunting intensity from Galway and the Tokyo. The slow tempo of this Quartet's second movement is slower than in the Bennett/Grumiaux version on Philips whose performance has a much more jaunty feel to it. Galway's disc is rounded off with his own arrangement of the Oboe Quartet, K370, whose sumptuous slow movement and elegant finale make this an attractive added bonus. One minor reservation: it is useful to have individual variations separately tracked (K285b.2 and K298.1) but, in the earlier Quartet, there is an annoying click on my disc as the tracks change.

The principal difference between the Galway/ Tokyo and the Bennett/Grumiaux versions reflects the recordings and the circumstances surrounding them. Galway's choice of slower tempos might well have been conditioned, at least in part, by the spacious church acoustic in which it was recorded. The Bennett/Grumiaux was recorded in 1969, but the digital transfer is excellent. These are both fine discs, so choice will be determined by personal taste.'

-- Gramophone [6/1993]