In 1784 the 28-year-old Mozart composed a quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn. In a letter to his father, he even called it the best he had composed so far. In any case, it must have been a challenge to make something like this, such a rare line-up that demanded a balanced writing style. It was not until 1796 that the 26-year-old Beethoven dared to follow in Mozart's footsteps. No
… wonder, given his reputation as a piano lion, that Beethoven assigned a more robust role to the piano than Mozart. The Mozart - Beethoven line is continued here with Danzi's Quintet for piano and wind op.41. The work has a beautiful romantic opening movement with a brooding introduction, worthy of an opera composer. Danzi is mainly remembered in the booklets for the crucial link between the (German-language) operas of Mozart and Weber. In terms of CD releases, however, it is mainly his wind music that comes along. (HJ)more