The Swiss flautist, Emmanuel Pahud, appointed principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic at the age of 22, here follows up the success of his earlier disc of Mozart concertos (EMI, 7/97), of concertos, with inspired readings of the flute quartets. There may be only one movement of any emotional weight, the B minor Adagio of the First Quartet, K285, but in that brief cantilena Pahud finds a mystery and subtlety of dynamic shading that outshine almost any rival. For the rest he consistently conveys the fun in the writing here, the youthful high spirits, so that in the variation movements of the C major and A major works, Nos. 3 and 4, one positively welcomes each repeat, so as to register the witty pointing afresh. The A major work may run the dangerous course of parodying the banalities of the contemporaries whom Mozart despised, but Pahud still finds charm in the invention, helped by the warm, imaginative playing of his string partners.
Pahud’s earlier disc of Mozart concertos arrived simultaneously with the same coupling from James Galway, his distinguished predecessor as Berlin Principal, but in the quartets I prefer Pahud’s lighter, more sparkling playing, with fresh, clear tone, to Galway’s more romantic approach at generally broader speeds, with phrasing more heavily underlined in characteristically full flute tone. In his 1969 Philips recording William Bennett, with the Grumiaux Trio, adopts speeds very similar to Pahud’s in crisp, direct readings that I have long enjoyed, but Pahud is more individual in his phrasing and control of dynamic, helped by vivid digital recording (made in London), with fine presence. Galway offers an extra work, his arrangement for flute of the Mozart Oboe Quartet, but Pahud, unlike both Galway and Bennett, observes second-half repeats as well as first in the sonata-form first movements of the first three quartets.'