Beautiful sound flute music of one of the great virtuosos of Mozart's time

The Mannheim orchestra was in the second half of the 18th century's most famous and best orchestra in all of Europe. The excellent wind played a major role on the fame of the ensemble. And one of the most important of these winds was the flautist Johann Baptist Wendling.

Father and son Mozart have well known and praised, even Mozart had during a Mannheimer stay in 1778 even the curious idea to go with Wendling and the oboist Ramm to Paris a thought which are his father in his native Salzburg hair stands on him left, which was then not implemented (fortunately?) into action.

Wendling (1723-1797) was born in Ribeauvillé (Ribeauvillé) in Alsace and came on the court of the Duke Christian IV. Of Zweibrücken to Mannheim for the Palatine Elector Carl Theodor. He was already famous young, the world has seen, was in Berlin, where he played for Frederick the Great, in Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna and London, where he was widely recognized as one of the best flute players of his time.

1778, when the Mannheim court moved to Munich together with the chapel, were not called Wendling, has worked in Munich with the world premiere of Mozart's Idomeneo and has since also died in 1797.

At a time when, according to Wehler (German Social History, Munich 1987) an out-skilled weavers in 75 dollars and a five-member family of craftsmen earned 200 dollars, Wendling received 1763 one annual salary more than 1,000 dollars, and there are the then customary fringe benefits such as firewood, free Apartment and court dress not even considered. By the way: Dorothea Wendling, one of the best sopranos of her time since 1775 received an annual salary of 1500 dollars, so it has more than her husband, and only slightly less than the Hofkapellmeister Holzbauer deserves who got in 1900 dollars in Jah.

Many who heard playing Wendling, who praised him. Such a strict and always sauertöpfischer critics like Leopold Mozart was Wendlings game admirable, but his compositions were praised. Schubart (the librettist of Schubert's Trout) found Wendlings works worked extremely thorough and the nature of his instrument precisely matched.

From Wendling 11 solo concerts and 84 chamber music pieces have survived. The compositions are not quickly composed from the pole virtuoso pieces, but have considerable substance, well liked by chromatic twists and bold modulations. Jumps over two octaves, fast staccato passages and high top notes show even today, as well as flautist Wendling was.

The Mannheim-based flutist Takashi Ogawa has gathered in search of forgotten chamber music of the Mannheim school original literature from libraries all over the world and founded in 1981 Hoff Music Mannheim.

Ogawa and his new Mannheimer play brilliantly, but also pithy and fresh gripping without vibrato in terms of historical performance practice.
This photograph shows that Wendling as a composer still has one foot in the Baroque era, but at the same time already foreshadows in the classical and even in the 19th century, where he still lasting effect in the flute pieces by Franz Danzi.

The pieces on this CD are exceptionally beautiful sound that is best popular music from a time that we have become very remote, listed correctly and recorded as can still enjoy here, however.