Outstanding performances at a price that can't be beat
Lance Swanson | North Branch, MN USA | 02/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sabine Meyer and her ensemble have long been a favorite group of mine. I had her original recording of the Gran Partita, but when I saw it had been released in a set with Serenades 11 and 12, plus other works I knew I had to get it. I'm glad I did. The group plays with flawless perfection, never losing their sense of balance or musicality.
Meyer's performance of the quintet is definitely my favorite. Her dark, silky tone is well suited to the piece, and her virtuosity lends itself to some of the writing Mozart included in it.
The price of the discs is an added bonus. You get 3 discs in the set, though you're really getting a complete compilation of 4 separately released discs.
If you're a fan of Sabine Meyer, her wind ensemble, Mozart, or wind serenades in general...buy this set!"
Another super-bargain trio, this time of great Mozart wind m
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/07/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Mozart loved the genre of wind serenades, or Harmoninemusik, and wrote two undisputed masterpieces in Serenade #10 "Gran Partita" and #12, K. 388, the latter as soulful and distrubing at times as the former is festive and outgoing. There have been many fine recordings over the years, and although I can't say that the famous German clarinetist Sabine Meyer leads the absolute best, as super-budget reissues they're hard to resist. (My chief complaint is the huge, resonant acoustic that inflates the sonority totally out of proportion.)
Meyer makes sure that she's the star of every performance here, which is totally justified in her suave rendition of the Clarinet Quintet K.581. But the best thing here is the least familiar, Mozart's extensive wind transcription of his opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, which Meyer and friends attack with irresistible high spirits and energy."