While string quartets and piano quintets abound, woodwind quintets are far less common.
That’s too bad, because the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet proved how five dissimilar sounds can blend into a smooth, synthesized sonority that lends itself — perhaps surprisingly well — to a diversity of classical and contemporary repertoire.
Under the auspices of the Friends of Chamber Music, the ensemble made its Colorado debut at Gates Concert Hall on Thursday, opening with an arrangement of Mozart’s Fantasy in F minor for a Clockwork Organ, K. 594. Most notable and unexpected was the softness and subtlety of the quintet’s collective tone through the work’s gentle melodies and understated harmonies.
Likewise in Endre Szervánszky’s Wind Quintet No. 1, the group’s melange of timbres illuminated the Hungarian composer’s inventive melodic techniques. Suffused by folk-music themes, the work is engaging and accessible, and clarinetist Walter Seyfarth delivered an especially fluid performance of its many rapid, scalelike passages.
With bravura, the ensemble then tackled the musical tricks and technical challenges of György Ligeti’s playful Six Bagatelles, a mainstay of the wind- quintet repertoire.
Arguably the highlight of the program, the spirited bagatelles are replete with asymmetrical rhythms, all of which were delivered with utmost precision by the proficient players. In particular, flutist Michael Hasel doubled up on piccolo, which added a measure of wit and whimsy to the work’s many virtuosic passages.
After intermission, the adventuresome program continued with Samuel Barber’s “Summer Music,” in which the Berliners successfully conveyed the atmosphere of a lazy, languorous season.
Notwithstanding the quintet’s fine performance, it seems worth noting that their unity of sound comes at a price. To a far greater degree than string ensembles, for example, it seems that each member of the woodwind quintet sacrifices a measure of individuality on their respective instruments in order to coalesce as a unit. In particular, the horn is less deep and resonant than it’s capable of sounding on its own.
The Friends season continues Dec. 7 with the Claremont Trio and violist Beth Guterman.
