SCO - Mozart Divertimento & Oboe Quartet - The Herald

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has had a long relationship with Glasgow-based Linn Records, extending to 14 recordings. That relationship has embraced the music of Mozart, including all those fantastic albums of the symphonies with Mackerras. This new disc is very special indeed. Mozart's Divertimento K334 is a huge work, running at some 50 minutes. What makes it so special is that it was written specifically for indoor performance, and, moreover, for single string players and two horns. So step into the limelight SCO soloists Ruth Crouch on violin, the incomparable trio of lower strings, Jane Atkins on viola, David Watkin on cello and double bassist Nikita Naumov, with guest principal horn Pip Eastop and second horn Harry Johnstone, all led by violinist Alexander Janiczek in an enthrallingly intimate and conversational performance of a great piece, at whose core lies a wonderfully expressive set of variations. SCO principal oboe Robin Williams features in a superlative account of Mozart's Oboe Quartet.