The
Koelner Akademie
and conductor
Michael Alexander Willens
have emerged as reliable makers of Classical-era performances on period instruments. Consider this release, featuring
Mozart
's big
"Haffner" Serenade
, the
Serenade in D major, K. 250
. Nearly an hour long, it is essentially a symphony with an interpolated concerto or sinfonia concertante, with lots of solo parts. There are plenty of recordings of this cheerful work, but few that balance these solo parts, including violin and horns, so well, and the result is a reading that catches small details of
's subtle wit. The wit is broader in
's
A Musical Joke, K. 522
(
Ein musikalischer Spass
, perhaps better translated as "Musical Fun"), where the composer pokes fun at his less competent competitors. No other composer has ever written anything quite like this, and in performance, it is difficult to strike a balance between mugging and missing the humor.
Willens
, performing the version of the work for small chamber ensemble, strikes this balance nicely. With excellent sound from the Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal in Cologne, this makes a good choice for those wanting to sample the work of the
. ~ James Manheim