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Rachel N. Becker, The Classical wind player, Early Music, Volume 44, Issue 4, 1 November 2016, Pages 658–660, https://doi.org/10.1093/em/caw095
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This batch of recordings, all of wind-centric pieces, divides into two groups: one of chamber works and one of concertos or other works featuring a solo instrument. Including some well-known and often-recorded works and some that have never before been available on CD, this set demonstrates the virtuosity of today’s historically informed performers and hints at the range and quantity of Classical wind music, which is still easy to overlook as a genre to listen to and to perform.
Ignaz Joseph Pleyel: Partitas for winds (Accent acc24276, rec 2012, 68′) includes four works written by Pleyel for string ensembles and arranged for winds by multiple other composers and one partita which may be original or arranged. I find this genre fascinating and the arrangements interesting to contemplate, but I wish that the CD case indicated the arranged nature of the pieces. The Amphion Wind Octet, a long-standing and award-winning group, exhibits good ensemble and very slick and flashy fingers, paired with occasional wild or rough notes. Clarinettists Christian Leitherer and Daniel Beyer’s impressions of rapid string arpeggios are particularly impressive. However, despite the comfortable and sensitive ensemble playing, each instrument sounds distractingly separate, perhaps due to microphone placement, and the bassoon is occasionally drowned out. I found this recording primarily interesting as a way to compare pieces arranged from string works and the different styles that can be attributed to arrangers or to the translation from strings to winds. Compositionally, I am particularly fond of the surprising jazziness of the Sextetto in C minor. The liner notes discuss Pleyel’s career in the context of the once substantial and now neglected Harmoniemusik repertory for wind ensembles. While the notes are very informative and the information about the history of the composition and arrangement of each work is well presented, I found myself wishing that the track listings included the opus numbers used in the notes. This would have ensured no confusion over which track is being discussed at each point in the notes.
