Serenade No 10 for winds, K. 361, 'Gran Partita':
1. Largo - Molto allegro
2. Menuetto. Tios
3. Adagio
4. Menuetto:
Allegretto. Trios
5. Romance
6. Theme and Variations
7. Finale - Molto allegro

A sprightly interpretation of Mozart’s intriguing Gran Partita, this release celebrates the wealth of talent in the London Symphony Orchestra’s wind section with an ensemble that includes Italian bass clarinetist Lorenzo Iosco, renowned clarinettist Andrew Marriner and celebrated young oboist Olivier Stankiewicz. Captured live during Sound Unbound 2015, the Barbican’s first ‘classical weekender’, the recording was supported by Bowers & Wilkins and took place in the Jerwood Hall of LSO St Luke’s. For this album, the ensemble was led Iosco, who played with the Orchestra for six years before joining the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He says of the work: ‘It’s so simple what [Mozart] writes, but at the same time so beautiful and so clear...All the seven movements are fantastic, my favourite is the third movement, because the way it starts and how it’s built is absolutley amazing. But all have beautiful melodies - it’s a masterpiece!’ The composition dates for the sublime ‘serenade for thirteen Winds’ are uncertain. It has been speculated that the piece was specially composed for a public concert given by Anton Stadler on March 23, 1874, though the watermarks and the paper suggest a composition date of 1781 or 1782. It is a piece that consists of seven unified movements; why Mozart decided to obliterate the generic symphonic conventions so outrageously is unknown. Given its vast size and importance, it is surprising that the piece is not mentioned in any of Mozart’s surviving correspondence. Another mystery is the name Gran Partita, which was found scribbled on the original manuscript, but by an unidentified hand. Essentially it means ‘big wind symphony’, a description that is not inaccurate. The 13-piece wind section was unusually large for the era, combined with the seven movement form rather than the more conventional four movement symphonic form, or the six movement serenade form, both of which dominated the wind repertoire at the time. The Gran Partita isn’t one of Mozart’s most intricate scores, but its sensuousness and variety are unsurpassed. The textures are dark and interesting rhythms form a rich background for the upper winds. Mozart possibly dedicated the work to his bride Constanze, and it may have even been played at their wedding celebrations in 1782, fitting the occasion with its ambitious scoring and sense of amplitude.

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Recorded live in DSD 128fs at LSO St Luke's, 15th October 2015