Beethoven: Chamber Music for Winds Les Vents Français

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon in C Major, Op. 87:
• 1 Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon in C Major, Op. 87: I. Allegro 09:55
• 2 Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon in C Major, Op. 87: II. Adagio 04:16
• 3 Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon in C Major, Op. 87: III. Menuetto. Allegro molto 02:28
• 4 Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon in C Major, Op. 87: IV. Finale. Presto 03:58
• Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G Major, WoO 37:
• 5 Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G Major, WoO 37: I. Allegro 11:34
• 6 Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G Major, WoO 37: II. Adagio 04:36
• 7 Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon in G Major, WoO 37: III. Thema andante con variazioni 02:28
• Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28:
• 8 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Thema Arr. Stein for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon 00:50
• 9 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 1 00:34
• 10 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 2 00:38
• 11 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 3 00:52
• 12 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 4 00:34
• 13 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 5 00:41
• 14 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 6 01:01
• 15 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 7 00:42
• 16 Variations in C Major on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano", WoO 28: Variation 8 - Coda 02:26
• Sonata for Piano and Horn in F Major, Op. 17:
• 17 Sonata for Piano and Horn in F Major, Op. 17: I. Allegro moderato 07:55
• 18 Sonata for Piano and Horn in F Major, Op. 17: II. Poco adagio, quasi andante 01:11
• 19 Sonata for Piano and Horn in F Major, Op. 17: III. Rondo. Allegro moderato 04:37
• Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon in B-Flat Major, WoO 27 No. 3:
• 20 Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon in B-Flat Major, WoO 27 No. 3: I. Allegro sostenuto 06:00
• 21 Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon in B-Flat Major, WoO 27 No. 3: II. Aria con variazioni. Andantino con moto 05:22
• Total Runtime 01:12:38

Info for Beethoven: Chamber Music for Winds

This extra helping of Beethoven’s music for winds comes on the heels of Les Vents Français’s recent triple-CD release Winds & Piano, praised by The Telegraph for “stylistically sure and interpretatively ear-catching” performances, including one of Beethoven’s Op.16 Quintet, which earned the group added plaudits for “astutely balanced and finely observed” playing. This recording offers much more of a good thing, with Beethoven grouping the winds in a variety of smaller combinations.

Les Vents Francais:
Emmanuel Pahud, flute
Francois Leleux, oboe
Paul Meyer, clarinet
Gilbert Audin, bassoon
Radovan Vlatković, horn
Éric Le Sage, piano

Les Vents Français
The cast list of the ensemble Les Vents Francais reads like the „Who’s who" of the international Wind ensemble’s scene. Five immanent experts of their respective instruments have met to a soloist’s ensemble of top class. This dreamteam is not only “French” as it consists almost exclusively of French musicians, it also devotes itself with a special verve to the music of Maurice Ravel, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Albert Roussel up to André Caplet. According to the repertoire the ensemble performs from two to five musicians and is completed by pianist Eric Le Sage.

The group has been touring throughout Europe and in Japan. Recent engagements include concerts at Mozartfest Würzburg, Audi Sommerkonzerte Ingolstadt, Rencontres Musicales d'Evian und LacMus Festival Como.

Les Vents Francais are working on a continuous expansion of the repertoire for winds by premiering numerous works by contemporary composers such as Thierry Escaich, Thierry Pécou, Guillaume Connesson, Michael Jarrell, Misato Mochizuki, Fuminori Tanada, Donald Waxmann and Qigang Chen.

Warner Classics has shortly released five highly-acclaimed recordings: 20th Century Wind Quintets, Winds & Piano (Mozart, Beethoven, Poulenc, Roussel, Caplet; Rimsky-Korsakow), Beethoven Album, Concertante! together with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and lately Moderniste with music by Philippe Hersant and Thierry Escaich.

Their discography includes furthermore the complete chamber music by Francis Poulenc, the album “French Connection” with works for flute, clarinet and piano, the double album “Best of Quintet Music” which combines music for wood winds by French composers with repertoire of the 20th century for RCA Red Seal and EMI.

Éric Le Sage
French pianist Éric Le Sage completed to study piano at the age of 17 at the Paris Conservatory and continued his studies with Maria Curcio in London. Prizewinner of several international competitions, Le Sage performs worldwide as as soloist and in chamber music. Highlights of his work are recordings with all music for piano by Francis Poulenc und Robert Schumann, which Le Sage recorded for Alpha winning the Annual prize of the German Record critics and the Grand Prix du Disque of the Academy Charles Cros. Together with Paul Meyer and Emmanuel Pahud he founded the Chamber Music Festival Musique à l’Empéri together in Salon-de-Provence. Since 2010 Éric Le Sage is professor for piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg.

Booklet for Beethoven: Chamber Music for Winds