The ravishing factor BASIL RAMSEY spends 131 minutes with Mozart ASV    CD COS 242

There surely must have been a hint of gold in music for woodwind and horns for Mozart to have dressed his offerings in such a resplendent manner. The C minor Serenade K388 is marginally less so, as though clouds crept across the sky. But Mozart in a minor key (especially G minor) can often move heaven and earth. Players from The Chamber Orchestra of Europe are obviously adept at getting together in groups. What more pleasure can there be than putting sound to Mozart in these elegant serenades?

This two-record set contains Serenades 10, 11, and 12, plus the Sinfonia Concertante K297b and the Concert Rondo for horn and orchestra, K371. A total of twenty movements, each of which pours out its heart in the manner known to us, but never as a cliché-ridden procedure.

Professional players must sometimes find a freshness of approach elusive in performance, but here it is a cutting edge releasing the sounds precisely. The 'lifts' that Mozart's remarkable gifts shower upon listeners never lose their effect despite familiarity, and that is one small miracle I treasure. The next is to grasp each movement and savour the endless subtleties that put Mozart on a rare plane of musical existence [listen -- CD1 track 5, 8:16-9:10].

Having fully indulged in this anthology of Mozart's wind music and its excellent presentation there remains but a final plea to our readers to consider purchase of a two-CD set of ravishing music.

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Record Box is Music & Vision's regular Wednesday series of shorter CD reviews