A very light, very sprightly, and very delightful performance of
Mozart's Gran Partita, this 2007 release by the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings under conductor
H. Robert Reynolds will beguile anyone who already knows the work and enthrall anyone who doesn't. And everyone should know the work -- it is, by common agreement, the best woodwind serenade ever composed: bigger, fuller, and deeper than
Mozart's two other wind serenades and brighter, finer, and more profound than any other composer's wind serenades. And while there has never been any shortage of great Gran Partita recordings from Böhm,
Davis,
de Waart,
Furtwängler, and
Mackerras, plus a host of performer-led recordings, this disc is still something special. First, it has a wonderful plein air feeling -- the sense of space and place is palpable. Second, it features marvelously virtuosic playing -- the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings are first-rate instrumentalists with clear colors and agile techniques. Third, and most importantly, it sounds like the players are having a blast --
Reynolds' alert conducting elicits a quite exciting and even moving performance. Even in an already crowded field, this recording deserves to be heard by anyone and everyone who loves great music. Two more notes: Koch's on location in Michigan sound is clean enough but a bit tubby in the tuttis, and while the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings is the group's full name, the Gran Partita is actually a wind serenade, and thus, aside from a lone double bassist, the performances have no strings attached.