Mozart wrote his concerto for flute and harp at the height of a Paris craze for concertos with multiple soloists – in this case the soloists were a French diplomat and his harp-playing daughter. The result is awash with rococo charm, and everything about the flute’s glowing lines and the harp’s rippling eloquence is designed to please.

The showing off expected in a concerto doesn’t seem to have appealed to the introverted Schubert, but he comes close in his light-hearted Concert Piece, a concerto in miniature with a hint of Beethoven running in its veins.

And if you’re not smiling by the end of the flute and harp concerto, then Mozart’s “Nocturnal Serenade” will do the trick – it’s bursting with an impish sense of humour and, as it turns out, everyone’s a soloist!

SCHUBERT Concert Piece for violin and orchestra
MOZART Flute and Harp Concerto
MOZART Serenata notturna

Michael Dauth violin-director
Emma Sholl flute
Louise Johnson harp

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – MOZART Flute and Harp Concerto: 1st movement (Allegro)
Track 2 – MOZART Flute and Harp Concerto: 2nd movement (Andantino)
Karlheinz Zoeller (flute), Nicanor Zabaleta (harp), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ernst Marzendorfer
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 450 035-2

Track 3 – MOZART Serenata notturna: 1st movement (March)
Track 4 – MOZART Serenata notturna: 3rd movement (Rondeau)
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Maag
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 9692

Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.