COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: Virgin Veritas
WORKS: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K216; Violin Concerto No. 4 in D, K218; Adagio in E, K261; Rondo in B flat, K269
PERFORMER: Monica Huggett (violin/director)Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
CATALOGUE NO: VC 5 45060 2 DDD
The thoughts that I had upon hearing this attractive record were first and foremost how far we have come in general, easy-going style in period instruments since the boom began a quarter of a century ago. By ‘easy-going’, I don’t mean superficial, of course, but simply the seemingly effortless ability to create a Mozart style (or, it may be, a Bach or Handel or Beethoven style), as required.
There are no technical problems: listen to the fine intonation of Monica Huggett, or the flawless playing of the B flat alto horns in the Rondo, K269.
When I was a young record producer in Vienna, after the Second World War, we had endless difficulties with C and B flat alto horn parts. No longer. It is also true that the British have really perfected a Mozart style which ought to be the envy of the civilised world. The concertos are played with extraordinary skill and finesse, and the two additional movements are vintage Mozart. It is, in short, an excellent record, both stylistically and technically. HC Robbins Landon