If I wanted to buy either of these immortal quintets, my first choice would be a coupling that gave me the two together – as here. Both were inspired by great clarinettists of their day; both grew from their respective composers’ last years.
Still only 33 when writing his Quintet, K581, Mozart could scarcely have guessed that, for him, autumn had already arrived. The music exudes only the freshness and enchantment of spring. Here, it’s played with effortless liquidity and finesse by David Campbell in closely attuned partnership with the Bingham Quartet. Because his instrument never steals the limelight, you can marvel anew at Mozart’s miracles of interplay. My ear was constantly captured by his intimate duetting with the first violinist, who so subtly matches the wind instrument’s cooler, more clear-cut tone and line. The letter of the score is faithfully honoured throughout, and its spirit conveyed without self-conscious point-making.
After the recent illness and death of friends in his closest circle, the ageing Brahms was all too keenly aware of the fall of leaves from the tree. Again Campbell ensures that his instrument is never more than primus inter pares. But in Brahms’s fuller romantic textures I sometimes felt that his partners were too forwardly recorded in this resonant church venue. The message is nevertheless conveyed with sincere commitment, except, surely at the very end. Because the un poco meno mosso is ignored, the nostalgic recall of the work’s opening theme does not tug at the heart-strings as it can and should. That said, I would still recommend this disc as very competitive and desirable.'