Salieri: Music for Wind Ensemble

These days Salieri's fame as an alleged protagonist in Mozart's life or rather death exceeds that of his music by far. Very few people though will be able to say truthfully they know a piece by this composer. Who, by the way, was Beethoven's teacher! His main output being operatic (40) this CD does not contain the average Salieri. There are piano, organ, and flute and oboe concertos among the relatively small number of instrumental works in his oeuvre. On this CD a collection of pieces written for various wind ensembles. Italian-born (Padua) Salieri worked his entire life in Vienna, but some of these pieces were written during a year's sojourn in Italy. Hence the Italian titles. The Italian Wind Ensemble has chosen to record the lesser-known of the two extant versions of Salieri's Cassazione. They have added the very deep sound of a double bassoon to the already uncommon combination of 2 oboes, 2 English horns, 2 horns and 2 bassoons. A most pleasant (re)introduction to the music of this famous composer.