Barthold Kuijken, Sigiswald Kuijken, Lucy van Dael, Wieland Kuijken - Mozart - Flute Quartets (1982)

Mozart's music for flute always seems to cause a twofold reaction. On the one hand, the music is undeniably beautiful, balanced and just a little more than what could be expected from the "gallant" style. On the other hand, note-writers are at pains to point out that Mozart apparently did not like the flute as an instrument and that in the case of the Flute Quartets, two of the four have not even been proved to be genuine Mozart. I think this Accent CD makes a wonderful plea for this music despite the doubts of booklet author Pieter Andriessen. The music is taken "seriously" by the four performers, producing a stringent, but eminently lovely version, with not only Bart Kuijken in top form at the flute, but also with the three string players providing a sheer amazing amount of intelligent accompaniment in an acoustic which could hardly be more transparent and more pleasant to the ear. The age of the 1982 recording nowhere becomes apparent, the engineering is as superb as the playing - an absolutely crowning achievement within the Kuijkens' career as three of the foremost proponents of the "period performance" school.