Search - Anton Reicha, Michael Thompson Wind Quintet, Jonathan Snowden :: Reicha: Wind Quintets

De belles mélodies, sans prétention

Jérôme Ouellet | Québec | 03/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Antoine Reicha (1770-1836), tchèque de naissance mais établi à Paris, a composé plus de 25 quintettes pour instruments à vent (flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson, cor).



Ces oeuvres ont plutôt pour fonction de plaire à l'oreille que d'exprimer des sentiments profonds. Elles renferment de belles mélodies empreintes de vitalité et de virtuosité.



Les deux quintettes (opus 88, no 5 et opus 91, no 1) sur ce disque ne font pas bande à part. Tous les mouvements (en particulier les 1er et 4e) se démarquent par la richesse de leur composition. Reicha n'était manifestement pas à court d'inspiration.



Le jeu des instrumentistes est excellent. Le son est bon, mais pas complètement limpide. À défaut de décerner 4,5 étoiles à cet enregistrement, j'en alloue 5, ne serait-ce qu'en raison de son prix très abordable.

"

Wind Quintet Must Have

Silverscream | Salt Lake City | 05/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you've ever played in a woodwind quintet or merely like the sonority of a small ensemble, this album is a must have. Reicha writes the nicest melody and harmony lines outside of Mozart himself."

More of Reicha's Innumerable Wind Quintets

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/20/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have a guess as to why the music on this CD, recorded in 1995, wasn't issued until 2005. That's because the playing here is fairly uninflected and there are places where it is sloppy. Listen, for instance, the the rapid staccato triplets in the final movement of the B flat quintet. The oboe can hardly manage to get the notes out and many of them are smudged. The bassoon does much better, but when it comes time for the clarinetist to give that same set of triplets a go he, too, almost loses control. Not good, and startling in performance preserved in a commercial recording.



There are other spots where one can hear shaky ensemble and fuzzy articulation. Add to that the lack of much shaping of the material, and you get a not-quite-good-enough run-through of these charming works. Reicha wrote lots of wind quintets and I frankly don't know if these two quintets have been recorded by other groups--I rather suspect they have, since all of his quintets are beloved of wind players--but I'd suggest you look elsewhere. That said, I will add that the playing of Michael Thompson, the hornist here, is impeccable and in spots startlingly virtuosic.



Scott Morrison"