Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claudio Abbado, Berliner Philharmoniker :: Mozart: Flute Concertos: No. 1 in G, K. 313; No 2 in D, K. 314; Concerto for Flute & Harp in C, K. 299

Only the first of Mozart's two flute concertos, K. 313 in G, was actually written for the flute; the second, K. 314, originally in C, was written for Mannheim oboist Friedrich Ramm and reworked by Mozart to fulfill a burdensome commission. But flutists have long treated it as one of their own--perhaps on the grounds that some of the things Mozart is reported to have said about their instrument were unkind enough that they shouldn't have to suffer the additional humiliation of only one concerto from his pen. In any case, these two works, yoked to the Concerto for Flute and Harp in C, K. 299, make a nicely filled CD. That is the case with this 1996 recording, which features the talented, twentysomething first flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Emmanuel Pahud, together with the Berliners and Claudio Abbado. Pahud is an elegant player with exceptional technique and a French sensibility--just the ticket for this music. He is given a lot of presence by EMI's engineers, though not too forward a placement, and receives exquisite support from his BPO colleagues. High marks for tone and breath control, as well as for fluidity, agility, and overall musicality, if not for ornamentation and other performance-practice niceties. Even so, these are winning performances, and Pahud makes such a strong case for Concerto No. 2, you'd swear Mozart meant it for the flute all along. --Ted Libbey