by Daniel Hathaway
It’s a great time of year for woodwind quintets in Northeast Ohio. Last week, Tuesday Musical brought the Imani Winds to E.J. Thomas Hall, and on Tuesday, February 7, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society will welcome the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet back to Plymouth Church for their latest appearance on the Society’s series.
The Berliners — Michael Hasel, flute, Andreas Wittmann, oboe, Walter Seyfarth, clarinet, Fergus McWilliam, horn, and Marion Reinhard, bassoon — will play a far-reaching program that includes Anton Reicha’s Andante arioso for English Horn and Woodwind Quartet, Kalevi Aho’s Quintet No. 2, György Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles, and Carl Nielsen’s Quintet, Op. 43.
I recently spoke with Fergus McWilliam by telephone from Berlin. Born in the Scottish Highlands, McWilliam was enraptured by the horn as a small child when he attended his first orchestral concert at the Edinburgh Festival. [Read more…]