Jos van Immerseel, Octophoros - Mozart, Beethoven: Quintets (1985) CD-Rip

Authentic and authoritative, these 1985 recordings of Mozart and Beethoven's quintets for piano and winds have almost everything going for them. Performing on a pianoforte modeled on a 1790 Viennese instrument, Jos van Immerseel is an adroit player, while the quartet drawn from the period instrument wind band Octophoros -- Paul Dombrecht on oboe, Elmar Schmid on clarinet, Piet Dombrecht on horn, and Danny Bond on bassoon -- are likewise all skillful instrumentalists. But while their playing is beyond contention -- listen to their keen balances, their smooth ensemble, their unified rhythms -- their interpretations miss the one thing that defines these works: their sense of fun. Where are the high spirits of Mozart's quintet, the quick wit of its Allegro moderato and the saucy comedy of its Allegretto? Where is the broad humor of Beethoven's quintet, the pseudo-seriousness of its opening Grave and the rambunctious burlesque of its Allegro ma non troppo? They're not in these performances. Some might argue that the humor of Immerseel and the Octophoros four is more subtle and nuanced, and they may be right. But if Mozart's quintet doesn't make you smile and Beethoven's quintet doesn't make you laugh out loud, the performances may be too subtle and nuanced for their own good. Accent's early digital sound is perhaps too close and too solid to be entirely enjoyable.