Mozart: Serenade in B-flat Major for 13 Winds "Gran Partita"
This familiar music has now been recorded many times, but seldom as effectively as it is here. Sir Charles Mackerras is a superb Mozartean, and this performance just brims with life. The rhythms are crisp and clearcut, the phrasing loving, and the balances consistently superb. Telarc's recording, with its lifelike presence, is another positive factor. The only possible complaint about this disc is the half hour of empty space which could have been used for more Mozart.--Leslie Gerber