Horn Concerto No. 2, K417
Oboe Concerto, K314
Clarinet Concerto, K622
Sinfonia Concertante for four wind instruments, K297b
Serenade No. 10, Gran Partita, K361
Timothy Jones Horn
Olivier Stankiewicz Oboe
Juliana Koch Oboe
Andrew Marriner Clarinet
Chris Richards Clarinet
Rachel Gough Bassoon
LSO Wind Ensemble
London Symphony Orchestra
Jaime Martin Conductor
LSO Live LSO0855
2 CDs
Full Price
The Review
As a former Principal Flute himself (albeit not with the London Symphony but just about every other London band), Jaime Martin is an undeniably sensitive conductor for the concertos, attentive to the orchestral detail while giving his soloists the space they need to develop their interpretations without rushing or overwhelming them.
This is particularly important in the Clarinet Concerto, for which the reading by Andrew Marriner’s predecessor on the LSO principal’s chair, Jack Brymer, set the recording standard for much of the second half of the twentieth century. Marriner takes an elegantly brisk view of the first and last movements, relaxed and without fuss, so that they dance. There’s always a debate about how fast to take the Adagio. The temptation is turn it into romantic gush or to try to counter that by making it so classical it becomes A N Other concerto movement. The reality is that, written so late in Mozart’s career, it is on the cusp of romanticism and in Anton Stadler he had a champion able to exploit the full calibre of the fast developing instrument. Mozart effectively wrote an operatic aria for him, one that could have graced the Countess in Figaro, and Marriner captures just that sense of contemplative passion.
The other two concertos on Disc 1 are played with the same smooth affection. Timothy Jones’ horn is mellifluous but he is not afraid to use the instrument’s power when the music indicates it. These are live recordings made in 2019 in LSO St. Luke’s so the very occasional moment when Jones and Martin are not quite together is forgivable. The Andante is a touch on the dogged side, though, so the outer movements are the most satisfying.
The Oboe Concerto is the earliest of the three included here, dating from Mozart’s time in Salzburg when he was 21. The mastery of form and line is nonetheless glorious and Olivier Stankiewicz gives it full value. His tone avoids acidity but does not try to emulate the richness that would be expected a century later, especially in the cadenza: an effective compromise.
There is a direct and recent comparison for the Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds (see the review from May 2020 below) from the London Philharmonic’s soloists, the LSO’s rivals across the Thames, and Vladimir Jurowski. In that version, though fine, the Tutti and Concertante groups are not so seamlessly integrated and Jurowski seems to encourage staccato accents that, wisely, Martin’s players avoid. The balance in the LSO’s account feels more natural too, underpinned by Rachel Gough’s luxurious bassoon playing. The Adagio is superbly pointed, the legato phrasing from Chris Richard’s clarinet and Jones (again) on horn achieving an immaculate blend while Juliana Koch’s oboe rises above them without ever imposing too much. The LPO emphasises the individual voices, and the conductor makes his presence felt, whereas Martin and the LSO go for teamwork. Both are valid but, weighing them up, I prefer the latter.
The Gran Partita, the Serenade for Thirteen Instruments (eight wind, including two basset horns, four horns and a double bass), is possibly the greatest work for wind ensemble ever written and, at close on fifty minutes, among the longest. It seems rough on the flutes that they aren’t required. No other work since shows up the virtuosity and blending of an orchestral section with such rigour. Being a serenade of seven unequal movements, it does not have the structural shape of a symphony but that does not detract from its coherence any more than the assembling of movements does from Bach’s orchestral suites. In fact, the Gran Partita is now so much a part of a wind player’s identity that it is their equivalent of a symphonic exam.
The LSO’s ensemble, recorded in 2015, understand the grandeur but they also understand the lightness of touch that the last thirty years of hearing the music played on period instruments has brought. The notes are landed on gently, not laboured, the rhythms kept buoyant. There are no rough edges, yet at the same time there is no attempt to copy the liquidised silk of a string section. Even in the great Adagio, the individual timbres of the clarinets, oboes and bassoons are allowed to keep their textures. Martin guides them with a steady hand, keeping everything on track but out of the way of the players’ expressive freedom – like a good football manager. This is a performance that stands tall in any company.
SM