A stunning recording by bassoonist and early music specialist Sergio Azzolini of Mozart’s only Bassoon Concerto and a new reference recording of Michael Haydn’s Serenade with the Streicherakademie Bozen.

Mozart wrote only one Bassoon Concerto (K191), but it is considered one of his best concertos across all instruments. This melodic, virtuosic work of runs and breathtaking leaps and trills is the most famous piece in the entire bassoon repertory. Plus a world-premiere recording of the Serenade by Michael Haydn (1737-1806), reconstructed by Azzolini himself. This splendid eight-movement piece has never been recorded in this form before. Azzolini has reconstructed it from manuscripts in Lambach Abbey, where seven of its eight movements are preserved. They combine Haydn’s Symphony no.14 (MH133), the two-movement Trumpet Concerto in D major (MH104), its daredevil solo passages marvellously played by the Hungarian trumpeter Fruzsina Hara, and three other movements not found in the Haydn catalogue. Azzolini and the Streicherakademie Bozen bookend the Serenade with two marches: one by Michael Haydn from the Divertimento, MH412, and another from Mozart’s Cassation, K99. A recording abounding in musical variety, virtuosic aplomb and orchestral brilliance.