Les Vents Français: Romantique

We tend not to think of the 19th century as a golden age for wind instruments. While the individual instruments themselves enjoyed varying fortunes, their standing was much less significant than that of string instruments or the piano. However, the situation improved for all of them with the onset of Romanticism and a remarkable new repertoire for ensembles of differing types. One such type grew out of the Classical tradition of the divertissement or serenade, bringing together winds and strings in sizeable ensembles ranging from the sextet to the nonet. Another also hailed back to the end of the 18th century and combined winds with piano. And then there was the wind quintet per se, a recent innovation brilliantly exemplified by Anton Reicha and Franz Danzi up until the mid-1820s, which had established itself as a separate genre, characterised by skillful and sophisticated writing.

Despite not having widely used them in the guise of true soloists, Romantic composers nevertheless turned to wind instruments more frequently than we might think, delighting in their expressive colours which were found to be ideal for depicting a whole range of emotions in some of the most refined works of chamber music. This recording presents a striking sample from this repertoire.

Les Vents Français has been described as "the wind-quintet equivalent of a supergroup". All its members are renowned soloists: Emmanuel Pahud (flute), François Leleux (oboe), Paul Meyer (clarinet), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn) and Gilbert Audin (bassoon).

They invite listeners to discover three chamber works that span the Romantic era. Louis Spohr's Quintet in C minor, from 1820, inhabits the world of Mozart and Beethoven and presages Chopin; the pianist here is Éric LeSage. (IMusic.com)