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.

PROGRAMME:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827): Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon C major op. 87
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto. Allegro molto. Scherzo
IV. Finale. Presto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quintet in E flat major for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano KV 452
I. Largo – Allegro moderato
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto

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Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F major op. 17 for horn and piano
I. Allegro moderato
II. Poco Adagio, quasi Andante
III. Rondo. Allegro moderato

Ludwig van Beethoven: Quintet in E flat major for piano and winds op. 16.
I. Grave. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Andante cantabile
III. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo

Source: https://www.hoertnagel.com/en/artists/artist-portrait/detail/les-vents-francais.html