Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Sir Charles Mackerras - Symphonies 29, 31 'Paris', 32, 35 'Haffner', & 36 'Linz'.
SACD rip via PS3 to iso and 24bit/88.2kHz stereo flac | 2 disc set | Linn records CKD 350 | recorded at City Halls, Glasgow, UK 11-17 July 2009
disc 1 iso = 3.21GB | disc2 iso = 3.12GB | Hybrid, Stereo/Multi Channel | Classical 

Recorded at City Halls, Glasgow, UK from 11-17 July 2009
Engineered by Philip Hobbs
Edited, mixed and mastered by Julia Thomas, Finesplice, UK
Design by John Haxby, Art Surgery
Cover painting courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library: View of the Gardens and Palace of the Tuileries from the Quai d'Orsay, 1813 (oil on canvas) by Bouhot, Etienne (1780-1862) Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France.
Photo of Sir Charles Mackerras by Clive Barda
Colour photo of SCO by Paul Hampton

Mozart Symphonies 29, 31 (Paris), 32, 35 (Haffner) & 36 (Linz)

The five symphonies presented on this recording date from 1774 to 1783. This was a decade of decisive professional change for Mozart, in which his stable ‘feudal' period as Konzertmeister at the Salzburg court was interrupted by an unsuccessful and tragic journey to Mannheim and Paris in 1777-8, and brought to an end by his permanent move to Vienna and a freelance existence in 1781. These years saw the end of Mozart's dramatic apprenticeship with La finta giardiniera in 1774-5 and his first mature operatic masterpieces Idomeneo (1780-81) and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1781-2). He also made significant strides in several instrumental genres. Among an impressive crop of instrumental pieces are the ‘Jeunehomme' Piano Concerto K.271 (1777), the last four violin concertos (all in 1775), the Sinfonia Concertante K.364 (1779), the three subscription concertos for piano (K.413-415, 1782-3), no less than thirteen piano sonatas, and the first three string quartets dedicated to Haydn (1782-3). With all this varied activity it is not surprising that the rate at which Mozart produced symphonies slowed significantly. But, at the same time, the individual character of his symphonies became stronger during this period, and stylistic lessons learned in other genres left clear marks on these works. His handling of the orchestra (and in particular the winds) became more confident and imaginative; his operatic experience lent his symphonies a greater gestural and expressive flexibility; from the chamber music and the concertos comes a more subtle sense of musical dialogue and how this can be harnessed to the logical continuities of musical content (which Leopold Mozart called ‘il filo').

In the five symphonies recorded here Mozart was responding to different circumstances: local conditions in Salzburg; a public concert in Paris; the opportunity to adapt a commission, originally conceived for a Salzburg audience, for the Viennese public; and the necessity to dash off a symphony for a hastily-arranged concert in Linz. Four of these works were later revised by the composer, with changes ranging from the retouching of details in K.425, through the addition of extra instruments in K.318 and K.385, to the substitution of the entire central movement of K.297. The exception is K.201, which may not have been revived by the composer in Vienna, but whose jewel-like perfection must at any rate have been as apparent to Mozart then as it is to us now.

Symphony No.29 in A major K.201 (186a), written in Salzburg and dated 6 April 1774, is one of Mozart's first masterpieces. He had written two earlier symphonies in A major (K.114 from December 1771 and K.134 from August 1772), both of which have charm and finesse; but the present work's formal ambition, expressive range and technical sophistication place it in an altogether different class. Just a few months after his eighteenth birthday, Mozart was fully in control of his craft and - despite his limited orchestral canvas of two oboes, two horns and strings - he wrote with an unmistakably individual voice, espousing the musical values that were to underpin his later symphonies.

Unlike most of Mozart's earlier symphonies, the weight of the musical argument is distributed evenly through all four movements here. The opening Allegro moderato is remarkable for the confident balance of its broad musical paragraphs and for the subtle connections between its many themes; crucially, Mozart did not flaunt his compositional technique until the coda, where the main theme is contrapuntally amplified. The following Andante is full of lyrical riches. Its second theme, in particular, must have lodged in the composer's mind, since he reworked it in the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola five years later. Above all, this movement is distinguished by its delicacy and the subtle modulation of its expressive effects: its polished surface is punctuated by numerous little hesitations, textural and registral fissures, and instrumental exclamations. It too has a climactic coda, with the wind instruments introducing an apotheosis of the main theme. Each reprise of the sprightly Menuetto is punctuated by a fragment of a horn call, known in the eighteenth century as a ‘queste' and used to signal the gathering of a hunt. This musical topic provides the perfect introduction to the finale (Allegro con spirito): a rollicking chasse in which Mozart showed his audience that learned devices and high spirits are far from incompatible. Once again, the movement is crowned by a coda, whose unforgettable horn calls were echoed some forty years later at the same point in the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
© Timothy Jones 2009

read more here:
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-mozart-symphonies-29--31--paris---32--35--haffner----36--linz-.aspx


SA-CD.net site review by Polly Nomial February 22, 2010	

A worthy companion to Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 38-41 - Mackerras in every possible way.

The symphonies are presented in numerical order so that the magical 29th is the first of Mozart's "mature" symphonic conceptions to caress the ear. As in the earlier release, the textures are lithe with natural brass and period timpani. Tempo choices are such that the music moves along without ever appearing to sound rushed in all movements. A slight disappointment is that the finale doesn't zip along quite as fast as some have managed (notably Abbado's much under-rated Sony account with the BPO, RBCD only, which is now ruled out-of-court with the widespread use of heavy vibrato) but listened to in context of the whole work, it is impossible to stop the face breaking into a smile, the foot tapping away and the urge to conduct from the armchair! There are some really rollicking (natural) horns here and it is quite thrilling. The plaudits do not stop there for the oboe playing in particular is very distinguished indeed; one could go one but I do not want to detract from the corporate accomplishment that is really very special.

Not content with offering 5 symphonies in this release, there is the possibility of making a second version of the Paris symphony. Linn have chosen to present the alternative middle movement in the middle of the work so that one merely has to press the remote control to decide which movement to skip rather than needing to pre-programme the player - this may be inconvenient to some though. The "alternative" middle movement is much briefer and less overtly beautiful (but outside of the Musical Joke, what did Mozart write that was ugly?) and listening carefully to both this and the "normal" presentation, it is impossible to detect a preference from either Sir Charles or the SCO. In this work, the trumpets blaze brilliantly and again tempo choices are ideal so that detail is never sacrificed and is allied to a forward momentum that is dramatic, sweepingly graceful and surging by turns.

Concluding the first disc is the strangely proportioned Symphony No.32 (in the form of an overture). Never before have I heard the structure so well delineated or knitted together as under Sir Charles' baton - the playing is exhilarating and transforms what has been a "bit part" work for this listener into a worthy addition to the canon.

The second disc contains two of Mozart's most popular 'named' works, the Haffner and Linz symphonies. Both receive readings that are fully in keeping with the playing of the first disc and the earlier set and are a quite exhilarating in the outer movements. The slow movements are paced so that the music acquires a sense of nobility without ever being ponderous or inflated. The Menuetto's certainly feel like dances now rather than the plodding accounts from yesteryear. Perhaps the most astonishing recording of the set is that of the Linz, where Mackerras in his phrasing and care for the structure manages to make it sound like a pre-echo of the Jupiter symphony - the reading is quite magesterial!

The sound is fully worthy of the playing and the recording made in the City Halls, Glasgow gives clarity, bloom and air to the wonderfully clean sound of the SCO, who play like gods throughout.

Highly recommended indeed. If one could have any quibbles at all, it is that the two discs were not filled to capacity with more Mozart from this team! (Oh for symphonies 25, 33 and 34 from these forces...)