Their performance of Mozart's Oboe Quartet, a highly virtuosic and original work shows a different side to these musicians,
highlighting their subtlety and lightness of touch. The arrangement for oboe and violins of three arias from ‘The Magic Flute’ was
originally set for two violins, while only the cor anglais part has survived from the Adagio, K580. In addition to the seldom-heard
1902 Serenade by the Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnányi, Benjamin Britten's ‘Phantasy Quartet’ presents a
rhapsodically-toned masterwork for the combination of oboe, violin, viola and cello
“These four outstanding musicians come together in two works by Mozart and one by Britten. The Mozart is his Oboe Quartet in F, K370, a work whose compactness and exquisiteness go hand in hand, although one really does wish it could be longer. Mozart’s C minor Adagio for Cor Anglais, violin, viola and cello, K580A, is of lesser interest, but three arias from The Magic Flute in oboe and violin versions are delightful.” Sunday Times, 6th July 2008
“As you'd expect from instrumentalists of this pedigree, much of the playing on this disc is of the highest class, yet the final impression is one of slight disappointment. François Leleux's playing in the Oboe Quartet is marvellously supple and fluent, but it's almost too elegant and relaxed for the character of this intensely attractive three-movement work to come across, despite the equally suave contributions from [the other players]. Britten's early Phantasy Quartet fares better, perhaps because its pungency is hard to underplay...but the disc ends on a bit of a downer, with Dohnanyi's Serenade for string trio. Like everything else, it's beautifully shaped, but its intrinsic superficiality can't be disguised.” The Guardian, 25th July 2008 ***
“Mozart's mini-concerto is lit up by Leleux's bright but flexible tone… The teenage Britten's single-movement Phantasy is played with well-observed detail…” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ****
“Distinguished soloists do not always make distinguished chamber musicians. Here they do; and unsuspected depths in the music are plumbed.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008
Gramophone Magazine
