''I become quite powerless when I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear'', Mozart told his father in a letter dated February 24th,1778. Such was the unpromising background to the two flute concertos that he composed in response to a commission from a wealthy Dutch amateur flautist called Dejean. He actually asked for three concertos ''and a couple of quartets'', but even of the two concertos written only the G major was wholly original, the D major being a reworking of an Oboe Concerto in C major, K271k, composed a year earlier. But it's time Mozart's statement was contradicted. The music of these pieces is by no means inferior or unidiomatic to the flute as a solo instrument; maybe Mozart was incapable of writing bad music anyway, and it is hard to believe he would have not cared for the flexible and expressive modern flute heard in these recordings.
The Chandos issue with Susan Milan offers playing of great variety of tone and articulation that is full-bodied yet deft in the faster movements and spacious and shapely in the slower ones (though I do wonder if the middle movements of both the concertos are perhaps a little too deliberate), and she is sympathetically accompanied by Raymond Leppard and the incomparably experienced players of the ECO. The cadenzas by Susan Milan herself are effective. Incidentally, the C major Rondo, K373 is a transcription (not by the composer) of a work originally for violin, but it goes well in this form. The recording, made in the church of All Saints at Tooting, is in the well-established Chandos tradition with rich sound, not least in the bass, that is also fairly reverberant; some purists might prefer something less opulent and with dynamics reaching more towards the pianissimo end, but this well-balanced sound is most acceptable.
On the BIS issue the forces are Finnish. The soloist Mikael Helasvuo and the conductor Juha Kangas studied in Helsinki and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra were founded in Finland in 1972 and, according to the photo in the booklet, consists of 16 players. Here, too, the playing is thoughtful and attractive, but it's all just a little more self-conscious than that on the Milan disc and lacking in lightness of touch, a quality needed by even such a movement as the Allegro maestoso of the G major Concerto. The recording seems faithful, but it is not quite so appealing to the ear as that given by the Chandos engineers. Here too the cadenzas are by the soloist and are well in style. The Rondo in D major is another arrangement, a tone higher, of the same violin Rondo that ends the Chandos issue. Space forbids extensive discussion of Judith Hall (Pickwick) and Aurele Nicolet (Philips); suffice it to say that at medium price Hall's brightly sparkling performances are worth having, even with just the two concertos and consequently a shortish time of 46 minutes; with well remastered analogue recording and at full price, Nicolet is rounder-toned (quite a different sound) and more straightforwardly classical. He includes the Andante in C besides the concertos. His stylishness makes it a difficult choice, but for my taste the new Chandos issue is the current best buy.'