Winds of Change: Vienna, St Petersburg, Paris

Mozart Quintet in E flat major for piano and winds, K452

Rimsky-Korsakov Quintet in B flat major

Poulenc Sextet for piano and wind quintet, Op. 100

Three masterpieces of the chamber wind repertoire by three epoch-making composers. Mozart’s sublime Quintet, K452, in his own opinion ‘… the best work I ever composed’, combines the essence of Viennese Classicism with the composer’s distinctive operatic magnificence. Rimsky-Korsakov, ‘chief architect’ of St Petersburg’s ‘Mighty Handful’, brought his experience as an Inspector of Russia’s naval bands to bear on his writing for winds and brass. His exuberant and brilliantly colourful Quintet in B flat is all too rarely heard. The concert ends with Poulenc, leading member of ‘Les Six’, the unconventional group of composers active in 1920s Paris. All his flamboyant wit and wistful poetry is captured in the Sextet, Op. 100. Iain Burnside will be the speaker at this event, and the performers will include pianist Vsevolod Dvorkin and clarinettist Alexander Bedenko.

Timothy Rundle oboe

Geremia Iezzi horn

Jasmine Choi flute?

Laura Vincent bassoon

Alexander Bedenko clarinet

Vsevolod Dvorkin piano

Illustrated talk by Richard Wigmore