
Mozart
Quartet in F for oboe, violin, viola and cello, K370
Die Zauberflöte – three arias arranged for oboe and violin
Adagio in C minor for cor anglais, violin, viola and cello, K580a
Britten
Phantasy Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello, Op.2
Dohnányi
Serenade in C for string trio, Op.10
François Leleux (oboe & cor anglais), Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Lawrence Power (viola) & Sebastian Klinger (cello)
Recorded 21-23 December 2007 & 10 January 2008 in Bavaria Musikstudios, Munich
Reviewed by: Colin Anderson
Reviewed: June 2008
CD No: SONY CLASSICAL
88697285852
Duration: 63 minutes
Dohnányi’s Serenade (1902) deserves greater currency that it gets. It’s a thoroughly excellent piece, fluently written and constantly delightful in its imagination and unpredictability. This committed performance should win it new friends, a soulful and energetic examination of music bursting with invention and craft; Brahms and Dvořák to the fore with a liberal sprinkling of paprika!
Heard without oboe, the string players are a little more tangible than before; but, that said, given the relative shortness of the disc’s playing time (and it’s actually six seconds shorter than advertised!), it would have been nice if Leleux could have returned to join in for an encore; otherwise it just seems that he got to go home early!