COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: DG
WORKS: Symphony No. 29 in A, K201; Symphony No. 33 in B flat, K319; Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550
PERFORMER: Orpheus CO
CATALOGUE NO: 453 425-2
Karajan was rehearsing this G minor Symphony in the Sixties: ‘Now gentlemen, remove that Romantic nonsense at the beginning – the hairpin crescendo and decrescendo that they’ve added to the main theme...’ He sang it ‘wrong’, then explained how it ought to go – ‘deadpan’. Well, the Orpheus does the Romantic version, which I don’t much like either. Otherwise, however, all is in impeccable taste – tempi finely judged, details as well as general line add up to the best Mozart you can hear nowadays with a non-period orchestra. High horn parts are flawless, the engineering faultless. If you are just starting to collect Mozart symphonies and don’t care for the period sound, this is a CD to buy at once. Arguably, too, the earlier works (Nos 29, K201 and 33, K319) are among the finest of Mozart’s pre-Vienna symphonies (only No. 34, K338 is missing). Both are Salzburg works, but the Minuet of No. 33 was added later, in Vienna, where Mozart performed both of these earlier works in his Vienna subscription concerts. HC Robbins Landon
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A, K201; Symphony No. 33 in B flat, K319; Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550
Karajan was rehearsing this G minor Symphony in the Sixties: ‘Now gentlemen, remove that Romantic nonsense at the beginning – the hairpin crescendo and decrescendo that they’ve added to the main theme...’ He sang it ‘wrong’, then explained how it ought to go – ‘deadpan’. Well, the Orpheus does the Romantic version, which I don’t much like either. Otherwise, however, all is in impeccable taste – tempi finely judged, details as well as general line add up to the best Mozart you can hear nowadays with a non-period orchestra. High horn parts are flawless, the engineering faultless.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm