An understanding has been passed down to us that Mozart had a somewhat jaundiced view of the flute, that he had not the inclination to lavish upon it the love and care and idiomatic poetry which give rise to the concertos for clarinet and horn and the wind parts of the operas and piano concertos. But, as Graham Rogers points out in his note, the evidence for this misunderstanding is at best circumstantial. When we listen to these concertos and fragments, we find solo parts every bit as quintessentially Mozartian as those cited above. They may not rival the piano concertos of his mature Vienna years, but they are masterpieces in their way, and are indeed the best of their kind.

Best of all is the concertante piece he wrote for a wealthy French count and his harp-playing daughter. From the ceremonial C major first movement, through the gracefully fluent triple-time Andantino, to the joyous bustling finale, the musics cloth is cut peerlessly to the technical possibilities and individual timbres of both instruments.

These 1972 recordings were made by the cream of the Dutch early music movement, led by one of its alma parens, Frans Bruggen. They date from a time when early-music values of transparency, buoyancy and lightness of touch and tone were just beginning to filter through to performances of music from the Classical era, and they stand the test of time.

1. Andante in C K315 641

Concerto in C K299 for flute and harp
2. I. Allegro 1041
3. II. Andantino 819
4. III. Rondeau: Allegro 1140

Total Time: 37'21

CD 2:

Rondo in D K. Anh.184
1. Allegretto grazioso 610

Concerto in G K313
2. I. Allegro maestoso 822
3. II. Adagio ma non troppo 927
4. III. Rondeau: Tempo di Minuetto 759

Concerto in D K314
5. I. Allegro aperto 725
6. II. Andante ma non troppo 639
7. III. Allegro 559

Total Time: 52'01

Wykonawcy: Frans Vester (Fluit)
Edward Witsenberg (Harp)