Here's a collection of Mozart's music for flute quartet, performed on authentic instruments by flutist
Claire Guimond, who divides her time between Montreal and London, and England's
Trio Sonnerie. The program includes a piece that's usually left off of such collections: the Flute Quartet in A major, K. 298, which is one of Mozart's purely humorous works. Some might call it desperately immature, with its finale designation of "Rondieaoux (Allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, adagio, così-così con molto garbo ed espressione)"; others might call it delightful. This is a work in three movements, incidentally; the track number, 10, for the last movement is omitted from the track list. The quartet doesn't quite get the broad humor of this quartet, which in places resembles A Musical Joke, K. 522: it satirizes hapless composers more than just the common run of musicians. The rest of the program, however, is more than pleasant. The booklet recites the familiar story of Mozart's having put off composing works to fulfill a commission he received in Mannheim from a Dutch merchant in 1777 because he claimed a dislike for the flute. There is more evidence of that dislike in these works than in Mozart's slightly later flute concertos; two of these works have only two movements each, a rare configuration for Mozart. But the music is as sparkling as ever.
Guimond has a feel for the slightly French-influenced style Mozart used in these pieces, with just a hint of on-the-sleeve sentiment, and her wooden flute (a copy of an eighteenth century instrument) is smooth, tonally secure, and all in all quite attractive. But it's
Trio Sonnerie, formed by Baroque violinist
Monica Huggett, that really grabs your attention, with a fine feel for the concerto-like qualities of some of these quartets. Sample the very lively pizzicato, despite the Adagio tempo, of the middle movement of the Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285. There are plenty of other recordings of these flute pieces available, but this one is a good choice for those wanting to hear the music on period instruments.