(Katherine Fink, flute; Tamar Beach Wells, oboe; Kathryn Taylor,
clarinet; Dan Culpepper, horn; Wayne Hileman, bassoon) – MSR Classics
MS 1128, 61 mins. ****:
Entering its thirtieth year, the Borealis Wind Quintet presents a
program of mostly obscure gems that will delight music lovers almost as
much as it will woodwind quintet connoisseurs.
The repertoire ranges freely from a light-hearted trifle by Nine Rota,
a reverie by Amy Beach and a neoclassic showpiece by Ferenc Farkas (his
sparkling arrangements of five 17th century Hungarian dances make a
splendid demonstration piece) to more substantial sets by Darius
Milhaud and Gunther Schuller.There is also a lovely discovery by
the contemporary composer Joseph Turrin (whose Hemispheres was
commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for Kurt Masur’s final
concert as music director in May 2002), a modern classic by Milhaud
(his piquant La Cheminée du Roi René), and a potpourri on Rossini’s
Barber of Seville by Giulio Briccialdi (1818-1881). The virtuosic
performances are uniformly sweet and captivating.
Recorded at the Purchase (New York) College Conservatory of Music, the
sound has a wonderful warm bloom with an exceptional sense of space
that repays higher volumes making for a good light workout that will
test the timbral accuracy of any music system. The affectionate,
authoritative notes by the Quintet add greatly to the listening
pleasure.
– Laurence Vittes
