Consortium Classicum/Dieter Klöcker

Mozart: Complete Music For Wind Ensemble EMI Classics 956 8152 (7 CDs) ****

Background music is nothing new. The 18th century was full of it, with wind instruments even making it a viable outdoor proposition. Mozart was a genius in the field and his Serenade in B flat, K371, for 13 instruments, stands gloriously apart from everything else in the genre. Two later serenades (K375 and K488) in a weightier style are equally fine, and theres a plentiful abundance of lighter works that are more in keeping with the norms of the genre. The German ensemble Consortium Classicum, who made the recordings reissued in this bargain-priced box between 1973 and 1985, are experienced guides to a particularly rewarding area of repertoire. Two of the seven CDs are devoted to works now regarded as spurious. But at the price, who's to quibble? See url.ie/57cs