Do you like your Mozart refined and graceful? Or robust and spontaneously expressive? A combination of both would be perfect, you may think, but in practice it’s not always easy to achieve. The Brindisi Quartet and their three colleagues play with exceptional finesse, and excellent balance and blend, well captured by the recording. These are predominantly light-toned performances, with the phrases shaped convincingly and with unfailing elegance. Their approach seems just about ideal in the Flute Quartet, where the joyful, vivacious atmosphere of the outer movements is enhanced by thoughtful attention to detail. Jaime Martin’s sensitive, sensuous flute-playing in the Adagio provides a delightful contrast.
There are many good things in the other two pieces, too. Jonathan Kelly’s virtuosity in the Oboe Quartet’s finale is really exciting, as is the brilliant, superbly balanced development section in the Clarinet Quintet’s first movement. But there are places where I longed for something less cool and detached. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields’ performances of the clarinet and oboe works sound much more wholehearted, with fuller, more strongly projected tone. But they don’t match the elegance of the Brindisi; in the Clarinet Quintet’s Larghetto, for instance, the string-playing is just too beefy. The recent recording of the Oboe Quartet by Nicholas Daniel and members of the Lindsay Quartet really does manage to combine stylishness with strong expression, and Thea King’s performance of K581 with the Gabrieli Quartet, whilst it may not quite match Carpenter and the Brindisi for refinement, has an irresistible verve in the quick movements, and a serene, intense Larghetto.R1 '9709059'