Mozart Edition, Vol. 1
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Mozart Edition
Magazine Review Date: 12/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 399
Mastering:
DDD
ADD
Catalogue Number: 422 501-2PME6
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony No. 1 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 4 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 5 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 6 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 7 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony, "Neue Lambach" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 7a), "Alte Lambach" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 55) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 8 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 9 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 10 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 42) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 43) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 44) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 11 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 45) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 46) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 47) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 12 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 13 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 14 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 15 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 16 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 17 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 18 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 19 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 20 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 50) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 48) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 51) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony (No. 52) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Minuet |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Mozart Edition
Magazine Review Date: 12/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 271
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 422 504-2PME5
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Divertimento No. 1 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimenti for Strings, "Salzburg Symphonies" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 11 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| (Ein) Musikalischer Spass, "(A) Musical Joke" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 15 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| March |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 10 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 7 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 17 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Mozart Edition
Magazine Review Date: 12/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 404
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 422 503-2PME7
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Ambrosian Singers Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Divertimento No. 2 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Cassation |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| March |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Cassation, "Final-Musik" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Kenneth Sillito, Violin Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 5 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Kenneth Sillito, Violin Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Notturno |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 4 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Iona Brown, Violin Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 6, "Serenata notturna" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| (2) Marches |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 3 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 7, "Haffner" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Iona Brown, Violin Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 9, "Posthorn" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Mozart Edition
Magazine Review Date: 12/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 402
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 422 502-2PME6
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony No. 21 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 22 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 23 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 24 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 25 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 26 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 27 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 28 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 29 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 30 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 31, "Paris" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Andante |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 32 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 33 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 34 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 35, "Haffner" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 36, "Linz" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 37 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 38, "Prague" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 39 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 40 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Minuet |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Christopher Headington
Though Mozart actually died near the end of 1791 (in December), the bicentenary year of his death is nearly upon us and the pages of Gramophone are already reflecting this with new issues and reissues and will undoubtedly continue to do so for several months to come. These sets from Philips are welcome, offering as they do the complete symphonies and what Grove likes to call ''cassations, serenades, divertimentos, miscellaneous works'', among the last group being the famous Ein musikalischer Spass (''A Musical Joke''), K522—though anyone thinking of buying the seven discs of Vol. 3 for the celebrated Eine kleine Nachtmusik should know that it appears again played by solo strings in Vol. 4.
The prospective collector must face the fact that even at medium price the 24 CDs comprising this issue represent a substantial outlay, although any one of the four volumes can be bought on its own and the 12 discs of the symphonies, with over 13 plus hours of music, are a pretty good investment for a lifetime's listening pleasure. The other two volumes are also of 12 CDs in all, but amount to rather less music at 11 hours. But I must not labour this point since value for money in this consumer area certainly doesn't depend just on length!—and although some collectors may consider the symphonies to be more substantial fare than the serenades etc., there are no rules about taste.
Whatever the case, there's good value for money here. With Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields we are in sure and sensitive Mozartian hands, and these performances, by and large, penetrate easily to the heart of the music in all its moods and colours. The recordings are good, too, with crisp mostly analogue sound that nevertheless has a bloom of resonance on it, and there is a natural balance between the orchestral forces, which include a harpsichord. In fact this issue offers Philips engineering at its best.
As for the music, the heading of this review reminds us that the numbering and provenance of the symphonies is confusing to say the least, and particularly as regards the early ones; Nos. 2 and 3 are missing and those of us brought up to think that the Jupiter was No. 41 and Mozart's last symphony may be confused at seeing numbers up to 52 appearing in the first volume. Full explantions here would be unwieldy: suffice it to say that history is not as tidy as historians would like and that some among these works have been lost, or lost and then rediscovered, or just re-assigned by the composer to other forms such as overtures. Others still are of doubtful authenticity and thus No. 11 is attributed also to Leopold Mozart, Dittersdorf and (according to Grove) ''others'' as well. There are also a few odd single movements played here, such as a Minuet in A major in Vol. 1 which is less than a minute long and another in C major in Vol. 2, their presence justified where they are arising out of a useful chronological sequence: Grove thinks that the second of these minuets was originally part of Symphony No. 34, but the booklet note here cogently argues otherwise. Incidentally, the notes by Neil Zaslaw for the symphonies of Vol. 1 and 2 are adapted from his recent book,Mozart's Symphonies (Oxford University Press: 1989). They are admirably scholarly, although considerable determination is needed to follow certain arguments with their wordy mass of detail.
One symphony, that in G major played after No. 7, is admitted here not to be by Mozart at all but by his father. The innocent collector may then well ask with some exasperation why it has been included, particularly as it has no apparent distinction. Despite all the stirrings-up of scholars which sometimes produce mud along with worthwhile music, may we not be forgiven for preferring just to enjoy Mozart's music (and that of Wolfgang Amadeus at that)? We may rest assured, however, that the Jupiter is still Mozart's last symphony and that with its qualities of Olympian sunlit heights it crowns a magnificent series.
We cannot and do not expect this kind of genius in the early symphonies, especially when No. 1 dates from around the composer's boyhood London visit in his eighth or ninth year. As a matter of fact, its Allegro molto first movement is well composed, and although the Andante that follows is childlike and commonplace in its reliance on simple formulae (listen from 1'57'' for some of this), the stylish playing here makes it tolerable and the Presto that follows is really quite good and at less than two and a half minutes doesn't outstay its welcome. The Andante of No. 4 (1765) is also worth hearing, and with KAnh223/19a, a work of 1765 that was only rediscovered in 1981, in the shape of a set of parts in Leopold Mozart's handwriting, the music is already beginning to sound like Mozart and not just Mozart finding out what Mozart was. Symphony No. 5 is delightful in its bustling outer movements and its use of high horns; but especially interesting here is the dramatic little Andante in G minor, a key which always has a darker side in Mozart, and indeed maybe I've made a musicological discovery in hearing in it a phrase so similar to the main theme of the Andante in No. 40 in G minor that I wonder if Mozart deliberately quoted this boyhood piece in the later work. By contrast, the Andante of No. 6 in F major sounds operatic, with the sort of elegant language and scoring that Gluck used and Mozart maybe copied, and thank goodness Marriner and his orchestra play such music without execessive lingerings. The trumpets and timpani in Nos. 8 and 9 bring another quality to the composer's developing symphonic voice, one which is festive and ceremonial.
Even so, I would suggest that the six discs that make up Vol. 1 are not for continuous listening, for they reveal more tiresome similarities to much other eighteenth-century music than they give us of delightful novelties, or even of a clearly maturing musical style (I felt this particularly regarding the third CD with its three symphonies in D major); but for reference the set is of value and certainly the occasional sampling of a symphony—such as K96 with its attractive slow movement in C minor, with something of a siciliana about it—is agreeable enough and no listener will fail to make some worthwhile discoveries. It's right to say, too, that although some of the music here is frankly routine, the playing is not, and that the massive task undertaken by Marriner and his team has not robbed them of freshness.
Real Mozartian charm, character and invention start being the norm rather than the exception in Vol. 2, and the flowing Andante of Symphony No. 21 is a case in point, looking forward in style to the mature operas and especially the Countess's music in Le nozze di Figaro. The minuet, too, is a distinctly original piece with a strange mock-solemnity and the bourree-finale also comes as a faint surprise, as does the Italianate tarantella-like one of No. 22 (the booklet says ''jig'', but I don't agree). The famous G minor, No. 25, is exciting but its Storm and Stress elements aren't overdone and one notices the bassoons that rightly add a certain darkness to the sound. From now on, listening becomes exciting and there are new thrills around every corner, far too many for me to list here. The orchestral playing (say, in every movement of No. 28) is stylishly deft yet graceful, while with No. 29, which is just as well done (though is the finale just a trace pushed along?), we are already among the masterpieces of a familiar repertory.
The Paris Symphony (No. 31) is followed by its alternative Andante, written for an impresario who didn't like the first one (''the new one pleases me even more'', Mozart admitted), and when a new note of ceremony seems to be sounded in such works as the Haffner, Linz and Prague Symphonies with their biggish orchestras and more subtle use of wind instruments (the last two of which also have a slow introduction to the opening movement), Marriner is again right on the ball interpretatively. The same goes for the great final triptych of symphonies, Nos. 39, 40 and 41, composed during a miraculous summer of 1788. Although some people might feel that a greater weight might be brought to the Jupiter, to my mind Marriner gives this work and the G minor (No. 40) strength and expressive force in the right proportions, and brings to them an unselfconscious approach that ultimately reveals the music's greatness more than many others committed to disc. Please note, too, the good wind playing here, balanced slightly forward but not unnaturally so, and that the orchestra never sounds so big as to depart from eighteenth-century style.
I approached the serenades and other orchestral pieces of Vols. 3 and 4 with only cautiously pleasurable anticipation, for alongside masterpieces such as the big Posthorn and Haffner Serenades and the incomparably graceful Eine kleine Nachtmusik there is something of a ragbag of music as well, and 12 CDs make for a lot of listening. But I've had few disappointments with the way this music is played. The Galimathias musicum is an extraordinary little mixture of themes, with 17 sections in all making up a cheerful 'quodlibet' medley of popular tunes, including a bagpipe-like one in the Lydian mode (in this case G major with C sharps), which the composer seems to have penned in 1766 at the age of ten; here also the Ambrosian Singers and a solo harpsichordist (John Constable) make a useful and idiomatic contribution.
Good nature goes together with inventiveness and compositional brilliance in the best of Mozart's entertainment music, and we can only sit back and admire the wealth of ideas that are laid out before us, including instrumental ones—for example, the Divertimento, K131 has four horns, as its last Adagio reminds us. Nevertheless, for anyone planning consecutive listening there are seemingly unending stretches of D major—every work on the fourth, sixth and seventh discs is in this key, and most of the fifth as well. The Eine kleine Nachtmusik on the fifth is the exception, being in G major, and is nicely played though the orchestra seems on the big side and in its second-movement Romance the bass line is over-weighty. In the Haffner Serenade, Iona Brown is a stylish violin soloist, while the small contribution of the posthorn player Michael Laird in the work named after his instrument (listen for him in the second Minuet) is attractive too, as is that of some other wind players.
It must be said Vol. 4, consisting as it does of divertimentos, gives us a good deal more of what is much the same sort of thing, mostly belonging to the 1770s, and though the account of Eine kleine Nachtmusik on just five instruments is pleasing, it struck me as deliberate in delivery and heavy in sound. The three divertimentos, K136-8 are played nicely enough by a string quartet, but these early pieces (1772) do not say anything that the composer did not give us more compellingly in later years. But Ein musikalischer Spass for two horns and strings which Mozart composed in 1787 is done with real wit, and the horns' 'wrong notes' in the embarrassingly homespun Minuet sound all too believable, as do the violins' contribution to the slow movement (with a terribly empty cadenza) and the Presto finale with its crunching last chords. The Divertimento in B flat major, K287 also brings us something new in the second movement in the shape of an elaborate set of variations with some interesting scoring. As a matter of interest, the composer himself took on the important solo violin part in a performance of this piece before an aristocratic audience in October Europe!'' The variations in K334 on a theme in the minor key are attractive 1777, saying afterwards, ''I played as if I were the finest fiddler in all too, and the work has a lilting first Minuet that has become well known.
All in all, this big four-volume issue is consistently well done. It could grace any public or private library and would be a suitable, though large, acquisition for the Mozart bicentenary year. But if I had to suggest purchasing just part of it, it would be Vol. 2 of the symphonies, beginning at No. 21, and including all the middle and late works.'
The prospective collector must face the fact that even at medium price the 24 CDs comprising this issue represent a substantial outlay, although any one of the four volumes can be bought on its own and the 12 discs of the symphonies, with over 13 plus hours of music, are a pretty good investment for a lifetime's listening pleasure. The other two volumes are also of 12 CDs in all, but amount to rather less music at 11 hours. But I must not labour this point since value for money in this consumer area certainly doesn't depend just on length!—and although some collectors may consider the symphonies to be more substantial fare than the serenades etc., there are no rules about taste.
Whatever the case, there's good value for money here. With Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields we are in sure and sensitive Mozartian hands, and these performances, by and large, penetrate easily to the heart of the music in all its moods and colours. The recordings are good, too, with crisp mostly analogue sound that nevertheless has a bloom of resonance on it, and there is a natural balance between the orchestral forces, which include a harpsichord. In fact this issue offers Philips engineering at its best.
As for the music, the heading of this review reminds us that the numbering and provenance of the symphonies is confusing to say the least, and particularly as regards the early ones; Nos. 2 and 3 are missing and those of us brought up to think that the Jupiter was No. 41 and Mozart's last symphony may be confused at seeing numbers up to 52 appearing in the first volume. Full explantions here would be unwieldy: suffice it to say that history is not as tidy as historians would like and that some among these works have been lost, or lost and then rediscovered, or just re-assigned by the composer to other forms such as overtures. Others still are of doubtful authenticity and thus No. 11 is attributed also to Leopold Mozart, Dittersdorf and (according to Grove) ''others'' as well. There are also a few odd single movements played here, such as a Minuet in A major in Vol. 1 which is less than a minute long and another in C major in Vol. 2, their presence justified where they are arising out of a useful chronological sequence: Grove thinks that the second of these minuets was originally part of Symphony No. 34, but the booklet note here cogently argues otherwise. Incidentally, the notes by Neil Zaslaw for the symphonies of Vol. 1 and 2 are adapted from his recent book,
One symphony, that in G major played after No. 7, is admitted here not to be by Mozart at all but by his father. The innocent collector may then well ask with some exasperation why it has been included, particularly as it has no apparent distinction. Despite all the stirrings-up of scholars which sometimes produce mud along with worthwhile music, may we not be forgiven for preferring just to enjoy Mozart's music (and that of Wolfgang Amadeus at that)? We may rest assured, however, that the Jupiter is still Mozart's last symphony and that with its qualities of Olympian sunlit heights it crowns a magnificent series.
We cannot and do not expect this kind of genius in the early symphonies, especially when No. 1 dates from around the composer's boyhood London visit in his eighth or ninth year. As a matter of fact, its Allegro molto first movement is well composed, and although the Andante that follows is childlike and commonplace in its reliance on simple formulae (listen from 1'57'' for some of this), the stylish playing here makes it tolerable and the Presto that follows is really quite good and at less than two and a half minutes doesn't outstay its welcome. The Andante of No. 4 (1765) is also worth hearing, and with KAnh223/19a, a work of 1765 that was only rediscovered in 1981, in the shape of a set of parts in Leopold Mozart's handwriting, the music is already beginning to sound like Mozart and not just Mozart finding out what Mozart was. Symphony No. 5 is delightful in its bustling outer movements and its use of high horns; but especially interesting here is the dramatic little Andante in G minor, a key which always has a darker side in Mozart, and indeed maybe I've made a musicological discovery in hearing in it a phrase so similar to the main theme of the Andante in No. 40 in G minor that I wonder if Mozart deliberately quoted this boyhood piece in the later work. By contrast, the Andante of No. 6 in F major sounds operatic, with the sort of elegant language and scoring that Gluck used and Mozart maybe copied, and thank goodness Marriner and his orchestra play such music without execessive lingerings. The trumpets and timpani in Nos. 8 and 9 bring another quality to the composer's developing symphonic voice, one which is festive and ceremonial.
Even so, I would suggest that the six discs that make up Vol. 1 are not for continuous listening, for they reveal more tiresome similarities to much other eighteenth-century music than they give us of delightful novelties, or even of a clearly maturing musical style (I felt this particularly regarding the third CD with its three symphonies in D major); but for reference the set is of value and certainly the occasional sampling of a symphony—such as K96 with its attractive slow movement in C minor, with something of a siciliana about it—is agreeable enough and no listener will fail to make some worthwhile discoveries. It's right to say, too, that although some of the music here is frankly routine, the playing is not, and that the massive task undertaken by Marriner and his team has not robbed them of freshness.
Real Mozartian charm, character and invention start being the norm rather than the exception in Vol. 2, and the flowing Andante of Symphony No. 21 is a case in point, looking forward in style to the mature operas and especially the Countess's music in Le nozze di Figaro. The minuet, too, is a distinctly original piece with a strange mock-solemnity and the bourree-finale also comes as a faint surprise, as does the Italianate tarantella-like one of No. 22 (the booklet says ''jig'', but I don't agree). The famous G minor, No. 25, is exciting but its Storm and Stress elements aren't overdone and one notices the bassoons that rightly add a certain darkness to the sound. From now on, listening becomes exciting and there are new thrills around every corner, far too many for me to list here. The orchestral playing (say, in every movement of No. 28) is stylishly deft yet graceful, while with No. 29, which is just as well done (though is the finale just a trace pushed along?), we are already among the masterpieces of a familiar repertory.
The Paris Symphony (No. 31) is followed by its alternative Andante, written for an impresario who didn't like the first one (''the new one pleases me even more'', Mozart admitted), and when a new note of ceremony seems to be sounded in such works as the Haffner, Linz and Prague Symphonies with their biggish orchestras and more subtle use of wind instruments (the last two of which also have a slow introduction to the opening movement), Marriner is again right on the ball interpretatively. The same goes for the great final triptych of symphonies, Nos. 39, 40 and 41, composed during a miraculous summer of 1788. Although some people might feel that a greater weight might be brought to the Jupiter, to my mind Marriner gives this work and the G minor (No. 40) strength and expressive force in the right proportions, and brings to them an unselfconscious approach that ultimately reveals the music's greatness more than many others committed to disc. Please note, too, the good wind playing here, balanced slightly forward but not unnaturally so, and that the orchestra never sounds so big as to depart from eighteenth-century style.
I approached the serenades and other orchestral pieces of Vols. 3 and 4 with only cautiously pleasurable anticipation, for alongside masterpieces such as the big Posthorn and Haffner Serenades and the incomparably graceful Eine kleine Nachtmusik there is something of a ragbag of music as well, and 12 CDs make for a lot of listening. But I've had few disappointments with the way this music is played. The Galimathias musicum is an extraordinary little mixture of themes, with 17 sections in all making up a cheerful 'quodlibet' medley of popular tunes, including a bagpipe-like one in the Lydian mode (in this case G major with C sharps), which the composer seems to have penned in 1766 at the age of ten; here also the Ambrosian Singers and a solo harpsichordist (John Constable) make a useful and idiomatic contribution.
Good nature goes together with inventiveness and compositional brilliance in the best of Mozart's entertainment music, and we can only sit back and admire the wealth of ideas that are laid out before us, including instrumental ones—for example, the Divertimento, K131 has four horns, as its last Adagio reminds us. Nevertheless, for anyone planning consecutive listening there are seemingly unending stretches of D major—every work on the fourth, sixth and seventh discs is in this key, and most of the fifth as well. The Eine kleine Nachtmusik on the fifth is the exception, being in G major, and is nicely played though the orchestra seems on the big side and in its second-movement Romance the bass line is over-weighty. In the Haffner Serenade, Iona Brown is a stylish violin soloist, while the small contribution of the posthorn player Michael Laird in the work named after his instrument (listen for him in the second Minuet) is attractive too, as is that of some other wind players.
It must be said Vol. 4, consisting as it does of divertimentos, gives us a good deal more of what is much the same sort of thing, mostly belonging to the 1770s, and though the account of Eine kleine Nachtmusik on just five instruments is pleasing, it struck me as deliberate in delivery and heavy in sound. The three divertimentos, K136-8 are played nicely enough by a string quartet, but these early pieces (1772) do not say anything that the composer did not give us more compellingly in later years. But Ein musikalischer Spass for two horns and strings which Mozart composed in 1787 is done with real wit, and the horns' 'wrong notes' in the embarrassingly homespun Minuet sound all too believable, as do the violins' contribution to the slow movement (with a terribly empty cadenza) and the Presto finale with its crunching last chords. The Divertimento in B flat major, K287 also brings us something new in the second movement in the shape of an elaborate set of variations with some interesting scoring. As a matter of interest, the composer himself took on the important solo violin part in a performance of this piece before an aristocratic audience in October Europe!'' The variations in K334 on a theme in the minor key are attractive 1777, saying afterwards, ''I played as if I were the finest fiddler in all too, and the work has a lilting first Minuet that has become well known.
All in all, this big four-volume issue is consistently well done. It could grace any public or private library and would be a suitable, though large, acquisition for the Mozart bicentenary year. But if I had to suggest purchasing just part of it, it would be Vol. 2 of the symphonies, beginning at No. 21, and including all the middle and late works.'
Mozart Edition, Vol. 1
Mozart Edition, Vol. 4
Mozart Edition, Vol. 3
Mozart Edition, Vol. 2
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