Both these divertimentos are convincingly played here as chamber works, with only one instrumentalist to each part. The F major, K138 does in fact come from a set of three that are sometimes listed as string quartets; its slow movement is graced with some heart-warming suspensions. But K287 is a much more substantial work, running to a side and a half. Mozart wrote it in Salzburg in 1777 for the nameday of Countess Antonia Lodron. I had previously heard it only as an orchestral work and there are indeed two important parts for horns, but chamber-music treatment somehow emphasizes the music's charm, especially when the string parts are as exquisitely played as they are here. The only compromise is to have a double-bass on the bottom stave. The admirable players include Kenneth Sillito, Malcolm Latchem, stephen shingles and Denis Vigay. The fourth movement, a slow one without horns, is irresistible, celestially lovely. The witty finale has as its main theme a folk-tune about a countryman losing his cat. Throughout the work nearly all the repeats are made, and very welcome they are.
Excellent recording quality. If the Countess enjoyed this divertimento half as much as I did then she had something to remember with delight.'