Mozart's divertimentos are at the moment represented in the catalogue surprisingly poorly, and this beautifully played and recorded disc helps to fill an obvious gap. The E flat major, K113, written in Milan when Mozart was 15, is the official No. 1 in the collected edition, and the bold directness of the Academy performance is matched by the recording, with solo strings, horn and clarinet all sharply defined in the stereo picture. The absence of cello is made very apparent in the second movement. Andante, making the ear ask for some continuo fill-in, though the result is attractively tangy in an aptly open-air way. Like Boskovsky on his old Decca LP version (SXL6366, 12/68—nla), the Academy avoid the extra oboe, cor anglais and bassoon parts which Mozart added later. Rightly so, when they clutter the texture, though Boskovsky does give a lesson to the Academy players in point and elegance. Even boyhood Mozart benefits from those qualities, where both in K113 and the other two works the Academy performances are a little plain-spun, lacking in the distinctive touches that a conductor can bring.
The B flat major, K137, for strings alone, one of the so-called ''Salzburg'' Symphonies rather than a regular divertimento, here complements the recording of K138 on the Academy's earlier divertimento disc (412 740-1PH, 1/86; CD 412 740-2PH, 5/86). Speeds are extreme, challengingly so, and the result is strong and brilliant, though I find myself preferring the more relaxed view of Sandor Vegh and his Salzburg players on the rival Capriccio disc (reviewed on page 742). Curiously that other new issue in Vegh's projected complete series puts the measured Andante in between the two fast movements, though neither the note nor the label registers that change from the published order. The Academy players observe the usual order with the Andante first, inevitably a little lopsided, even though the two fast movements are here nicely distinguished. The D major, K251, sometimes in the past played with two horns and string quartet to match its more famous neighbour, K247, is here given in the original instrumentation for oboe, horn and strings, with Celia Nicklin most imaginative in her oboe solos, and with the six brief movements nicely contrasted. Kenneth Sillito, first violin, leads the ensemble as a whole; beautifully polished and stylish, if—as I say—lacking a little in individuality.'