This disc is Vol. 6 of the complete woodwind quintets of Antoine Reicha performed by the Westwood Wind Quintet. That's right: Vol. 6. Reicha -- the friend of Haydn and Beethoven and the teacher of Berlioz and Liszt -- composed 24 woodwind quintets and this disc contains two of them: Op. 91/5 in A major and No. 6 in C minor. And, at least in these performances by the Westwood Wind Quintet, both of them sound like masterpieces in the genre. Both quintets feature brilliant and characterful writing for the instruments as well as catchy tunes, bright colors, and buoyant rhythms. In the Quintet in A major, they sound like they are enjoying themselves thoroughly with Reicha's ebullient music. In the Quintet in C minor, they sound more serious and more passionate. But in both, the Westwood Wind Quintet does them full justice. Indeed, in the Westwood's performances, Reicha's Quintets sound nearly at the level of Haydn's or Mozart's. Crystal's sound is very close, very clear, very real, and still very dry. ~ James Leonard, Rovi
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