Belfiato Quintet - Music for Wind Instruments - CD

The Belfiato Quintet presents music for wind instruments by three Czech composers of the first half of the 20th century: Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s Wind Quintet, Op. 95, Pavel Haas’s Wind Quintet, Op. 10, and Leoš Janáček’s Mládí, a wind sextet. The quintet consists of Oto Reiprich on flute, Jan Souček on oboe, Jiří Javůrek on clarinet, Ondřej Šindelář on bassoon and Kateřina Javůrková on French horn, joined by Jindřich Pavliš on bass clarinet for Janáček’s work. Belfiato Quintet is a prominent Czech chamber ensemble on the international stage. Its young members perform in leading orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and have received valuable competition distinctions both individually and as an ensemble. This first studio recording, made after twelve years together, is devoted entirely to Czech composers. Foerster composed his Wind Quintet in 1909 at the request of a virtuoso ensemble founded by the Vienna Philharmonic. Pavel Haas’s work, written twenty years later, reflects Janáček’s influence, folk inspiration and the influence of Stravinsky. Janáček’s sextet Mládí was written only five years earlier and is filled with vital energy that rises above longing and melancholy. Joy, playfulness, inspiration and virtuosity define the Belfiato Quintet’s debut album.