MOZART. Oboe Quartet in F major, K370. Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581 t. Gordon Hunt (ob): tAndrew Marriner (dart): Chilingirian Quartet (Levon Chilingiarian, Mark Butler, vms, Csaba Erdélyi, via: Philip de Groote, vlc). Classics for Pleasure CFP40377 (C2 25): al TCCFP40377 (C2 25).

Selected comparisons—coupled as above;

Koch, De Peyer, Amadeus Qt(2/77) 2530 720

Black, Pay, ASMF Chbr Ens (6/81) 9500 772 The recording of Mozart's Oboe Quartet made by Leon Goossens and members of the Léner String Quartet in 1933 (Columbia LX256-7, 9/33) set a standard by which all later performances must be judged. Not many recorded versions come anywhere near it, although those by Lothar Koch (DO) and by Neil Black (Philips) mentioned above are, in their different ways, very distinguished. Comparisons are odious, but the critic cannot always avoid them: I shall only say that I find the new one by Gordon Hunt, the youthful principal oboe of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and members of the Chilingirian Quartet (who have made a notable recording of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to HaydnCRD CRDIO62-4, 12/80), absolutely captivating: flawless in technique, ravishingly beautiful in sound, and innately musical in style: a performance to treasure,

Andrew Marriner, the even more youthful soloist in the Clarinet Quintet, is scarcely less impressive in that mellow, autumnal masterpiece, which is both a more substantial work and a greater challenge to the player. He is particularly good in the sublime Larghetto and in the variation-form finale, which can sometimes outstay its welcome but certainly does not do so here. If I say that his interpretation is in every way the peer of those by Gervase de Peyer and Antony Pay this should give some idea of its quality.

The Classics for Pleasure recording, made in the Wigmore Hall in London in December 1981, is clear and lifelike in sound, and very modestly priced; the Oboe Quartet comes first and the turnover comes after the first movement of the Clarinet Quintet; all repeats are observed. The other versions are considerably more expensive. The DG offers the same coupling, though in the opposite order, and without all repeats; the Philips also includes Mozart's Horn Quintet, K407 with Timothy Brown as the adroit soloist, but is also, and understandably, less generous in repeats. R.G.