What are you listening two?

[Seán]

I've been listening a great deal over the past couple of months to Adam Fischer's marvellous cycle of Mozart symphonies with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra on the Da Capo label.  This is a really wonderful achievement on Fischer's part.  Many complete cycles prduce fine versions of Symphonies 25 to 41 (admittedly the masterpieces in Mozart's symphonic canon) but fail to dig deeply into the earlier works.  Fischer's notable achievement is to incorporate a remarkable freshness and vitality into his performances of all of these works.  You can select a CD at random from any period of Mozart's life and you find yourself swept away and utterly engaged.  The chamber orchestra on these recordings use modern instruments but the performances are very much influenced by historically influenced work.  Fischer is very good at pinpointing all kinds of inner details in this music - the woodwind section is particularly noteworthy - without disrupting the musical flow of the piece.  

Completely satisfactory cycles of the Mozart symphonies can be hard to find and this is one of the very best I have yet heard. Trevor Pinnock's and Karl Bohm's cycles present two different sound worlds but both are very enjoyable.  However, the earlier works sound a little academic and pedastrian in Pinnock's hands whilst Bohm's BPO tends to gloss over the fine details and tempos are a little sluggish.  (They are both very good, though, from Symphony 25 onwards.)  I remain very fond of Hans Graf's undervalued cycle with the Salzburg Mozarteum on Capriccio which sequences late, middle and early symphonies on the same disc and recall the transparency and energy of Pinnock's interpretations whilst retainng modern instruments.  But Fischer's set is my new benchmark for a complete set of Mozart's symphonies.

Hi Paul, thank you for this splendid, timely review. I have been on the lookout for a third Mozart Symphony cycle for some time. I want to add to my current box sets: Jaap ter Linden/Mozart Akademie Amsterdam, which I do not like, and the marvellous Charles Mackerras/Prague Chamber Orchestra performances. I have considered getting either the Christopher Hogwood or Karl Böhm cycles but you have opened my ears to what may be a far preferable option. I have listened to excerpts on jpc.de and it is a tantalising prospect.

[Seán]

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture....





....much maligned but always pleasurable listening for me; I think that it sonically depicts a story very well.

Oh I do like the 1812, and it is a Dorati led performance, so what's not to like.

[Seán]

I do have a few Mozart symphonies conducted by Jacobs, the Freiburgers are a magnificent outfit. sadly, I don't have that recording.

Any recommendations for the Freiburgers playing Mozart Seán?

Hi Fergus, yes, but mine are in the Enlightenment box sets, in fact, they perform Haydn, Gluck and more besides.


Sinfonia concertante for Winds in E flat major, K 297b (K Anh 9)
Performer: Javier Zafra (Bassoon), Susanne Kaiser (Flute), Ann-Kathrin Bruggemann (Oboe),
Erwin Wieringa (French Horn)
Conductor: Gottfried Von der Goltz
Orchestra/Ensemble: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Symphony No 31 'Paris'
Conductor: von der Goltz
Orchestra/Ensemble: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Symphony no 41 in C major, K 551 "Jupiter"
Conductor: René Jacobs
Orchestra/Ensemble: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

[fergus]

I've been listening a great deal over the past couple of months to Adam Fischer's marvellous cycle of Mozart symphonies with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra on the Da Capo label.  This is a really wonderful achievement on Fischer's part.  Many complete cycles prduce fine versions of Symphonies 25 to 41 (admittedly the masterpieces in Mozart's symphonic canon) but fail to dig deeply into the earlier works.  Fischer's notable achievement is to incorporate a remarkable freshness and vitality into his performances of all of these works.  You can select a CD at random from any period of Mozart's life and you find yourself swept away and utterly engaged.  The chamber orchestra on these recordings use modern instruments but the performances are very much influenced by historically influenced work.  Fischer is very good at pinpointing all kinds of inner details in this music - the woodwind section is particularly noteworthy - without disrupting the musical flow of the piece.  

Completely satisfactory cycles of the Mozart symphonies can be hard to find and this is one of the very best I have yet heard. Trevor Pinnock's and Karl Bohm's cycles present two different sound worlds but both are very enjoyable.  However, the earlier works sound a little academic and pedastrian in Pinnock's hands whilst Bohm's BPO tends to gloss over the fine details and tempos are a little sluggish.  (They are both very good, though, from Symphony 25 onwards.)  I remain very fond of Hans Graf's undervalued cycle with the Salzburg Mozarteum on Capriccio which sequences late, middle and early symphonies on the same disc and recall the transparency and energy of Pinnock's interpretations whilst retainng modern instruments.  But Fischer's set is my new benchmark for a complete set of Mozart's symphonies.

That is an interesting one Paul. Do you have Fischer’s Haydn cycle by any chance? I am wondering if you do have it or have heard it, what you think of it. The reason that I ask is that for me Haydn, as opposed to Mozart, is the quintessential Classical composer. His music is full of grace, charm and wit and for me any performance must possess those three characteristics in abundance. Fischer, although not perfect, certainly does very well whereas I find others good in the outer movements but lack the requisite charm, grace and poise in the slow movements and in the minuets never varying the touch from the outer movements thereby having the same mood and feel throughout each work. The results are for me are that the slow movements and the minuets are too ponderous and lacking in that essential Classical charm and elegance for good Classical performances.
These thoughts are purely to see if I can establish a correlation between what I personally feel are good Haydn performances from Fischer and these Mozart offerings. I have both the Bohm and the Pinnock interpretations among others and would always be interested in another complete Mozart cycle.

[fergus]

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture....





....much maligned but always pleasurable listening for me; I think that it sonically depicts a story very well.

Oh I do like the 1812, and it is a Dorati led performance, so what's not to like.

You would be amazed at the amount of bad press and commentary that I have read and heard over the years regarding the 1812 Overture Seán. I should however point out that this has always referred to the work itself and not to this particular performance; the Dorati is the reference point in this work for me.

[fergus]

I do have a few Mozart symphonies conducted by Jacobs, the Freiburgers are a magnificent outfit. sadly, I don't have that recording.

Any recommendations for the Freiburgers playing Mozart Seán?

Hi Fergus, yes, but mine are in the Enlightenment box sets, in fact, they perform Haydn, Gluck and more besides.

Thank you for that Seán.

[fergus]

I played through this set of Brahms Symphonies by Gunter Wand yesterday....





....most enjoyable.

[DaveF]

I played through this set of Brahms Symphonies by Gunter Wand yesterday....





....most enjoyable.

oh I remember that LP set. Got played regularly when I had it.

[DaveF]

[mcq]

Beginning the day with music for viola da gamba by Couperin and Bach (both J.S. and C.P.E.).Beautiful music - spare, transparent moments of studied stillness and reflection alternating with episodes of sheer unaffected joy - that is elevated and transported by the poetic timbres of this most personal of instruments.