Mozart: Night Music

1	Serenade No. 13 for strin
2	Serenade No. 13 for strin
3	Serenade No. 13 for strin
4	Serenade No. 13 for strin
5	Adagio and Fugue for stri
6	Adagio and Fugue for stri
7	Menuet and Trio in C majo
8	Serenade No. 6 for orches
9	Serenade No. 6 for orches
10	Serenade No. 6 for orches
11	Divertimento for 2 horns
12	Divertimento for 2 horns
13	Divertimento for 2 horns
14	Divertimento for 2 horns
Mozart: Night Music
1.	Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major ("Eine kleine Nachtmusik"), K. 525 20:51
	Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	Performed by English Consort
2.	Adagio and Fugue for string quartet (or string orchestra) in C minor, K. 546 7:00
	Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	Performed by English Consort
3.	Menuet and Trio in C major (with W.A. Mozart: aka K. 485a) 2:24
	Composed by Thomas Attwood
	Performed by English Consort
4.	Serenade No. 6 for orchestra in D major ("Serenata Notturna"), K. 239 13:45
	Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	Performed by English Consort
5.	Divertimento for 2 horns & strings in F major ("Ein musikalischer Spass," "A Musical Joke"), K. 522 23:08
	Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	Performed by English Consort

Barnes & Noble

Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik may be one of those too-often-played pieces of classical music that many listeners dismiss with a weary shrug. But no one seems to have told Andrew Manze. Here, in this excellent recording, his first as director of The English Concert, Manze brings a remarkable sense of freshness and a renewing spirit to this old chestnut. The ensemble plays gracefully and energetically for him, adding a wealth of interpretive subtleties while bringing out the inner voices with an airy clarity. The shorter Adagio and Fugue in C Minor and the little-known Menuet and Trio in C Major follow in like fashion; then it's back to the after-hours theme with a superb, beautifully paced performance of the youthful and charming Serenatta notturna, with Manze pulling double duty as a polished violin soloist. From the sublime to the ridiculous, Ein musikalischer Spass (A Musical Joke) -- a fun-filled parody of the music of Mozart's lesser contemporaries -- caps the program. While such intentionally banal and off-sounding music may seem a curious closer to such an elegant recording, it certainly drives home the pervading sense of cheerful good spirits. Manze's directorial debut with his brilliant new band is an auspicious beginning indeed. EJ Johnson

Gramophone

The chief delight in this first offering from The English Concert under its new director, Andrew Manze, is the performance of the Serenata notturna.... Manze paces it beautifully (which is quite difficult), and he catches its unique mixture of the elegant and (in the finale) the near-rumbustious.... The Nachtmusik [receives] as pleasing a performance as any. Stanley Sadie

BBC Music Magazine

If you're one of those who'd be happy never to hear Eine kleine Nachtmusik again, this could be just the antidote.... I don't know of any [performances] that can match these for freshness, exhilaration and sheer fun. Richard Wigmore