Here on the quite uniquely breathtaking Music for a Viennese Salon (out now via AVIE Records), Philadelphia-based period-instrument ensemble Night Music re-creates an afternoon of music making from October 1801 at the Austrian capital’s Palais Arnstein.

Complete with a flamboyant Quintet for flute and strings by Joseph Kraus, a duo by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf for the unusual combination of viola and double bass, and a chamber arrangement – by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon in the same instrumentation as the Kraus Quintet – it's actually hard to say which culminate in being the most adroit of symphonic surprises once they reach your ears (pun intended, sorry!).

Joseph Martin Kraus (1756 – 1792)
Quintet in D, VB 188, for flute and strings
1. I. Allegro moderato (14.12)
2. II. Largo (7.09)
3. III. Finale: con brio (6.40)

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739 – 1799)
Duetto in E-flat, Kr. 219, for viola and violone
4. I. Allegro (4.40)
5. II. Menuetto I (2.47)
6. III. Adagio (2.47)
7. IV. Menuetto II (2.20)
8. V. Andante: Tema con variazioni (3.33)

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Symphony in G, Hob. I:94, “Surprise” (arr. Johann Peter Salomon for flute and strings)
9. I. Adagio – Vivace assai (7.36)
10. II. Andante (6.16)
11. III. Menuetto (4.39)
12. IV. Allegro di molto (4.04)

Recorded back on August 27th, 28th, and 29th, 2018, at the Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church, Wilmington, Delaware, produced by Erin Banholzer and engineered by Loren Stata, period-instrument ensemble Night Music, quite literally, make these recordings freshly their own here.

Opening with Kraus' 14 minute Allegro moderato, from his Quintet in D, VB 188, for flute and strings, the flighty number is crisply effervescent here, as one could only hope to expect, and yet Night Music seems to ornately cut and run with Kraus' inbred thoughts and wishes for the work almost seamlessly.

Another stand out is the gently foreboding work found within Andante: Tema con variazioni from von Dittersdorf's Duetto in E-flat, Kr. 219, for viola and violone.

Overall not a long work, but with Night Music bringing all his nuances to the fore in such dedicated style, the work is one quite magnificently dulcet beast, that's for sure.

The last one I shall highlight here is the simply breathtaking Adagio – Vivace assai from Haydn's Symphony in G, Hob. I:94, “Surprise” (arr. Johann Peter Salomon for flute and strings).

Running at just under 8 minutes, it is a pure, and unadulterated work of pristine musical art and fully deserves its place (as part of a complete work) here on this expertly arranged new CD from Night Music (via AVIE Records).

Official CD Purchase Link

www.nightmusicensemble.com