WINDS OF CHANGE: VIENNA, ST PETERSBURG, PARIS

MARCH 26, 2015
20th Century Theatre, London

Vsevolod Dvorkin piano
Jasmine Choi flute
Alexander Bedenko clarinet
Timothy Rundle oboe
Laura Vincent bassoon
Geremia Iezzi horn
Illustrated talk by Richard Wigmore

Mozart Quintet in E flat major for piano and winds, K452
Rimsky-Korsakov Quintet in B flat major
Poulenc Sextet for piano and wind quintet, Op. 100

Three masterpieces of the chamber wind repertoire by three epoch-making composers. Mozart’s sublime Quintet, K452, in his own opinion ‘… the best work I ever composed’, combines the essence of Viennese Classicism with the composer’s distinctive operatic magnificence. Rimsky-Korsakov, ‘chief architect’ of St Petersburg’s ‘Mighty Handful’, brought his experience as an Inspector of Russia’s naval bands to bear on his writing for winds and brass. His exuberant and brilliantly colourful Quintet in B flat is all too rarely heard. The concert ends with Poulenc, leading member of ‘Les Six’, the unconventional group of composers active in 1920s Paris. All his flamboyant wit and wistful poetry is captured in the Sextet, Op. 100.