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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mozart - Symphonies Volume 9
This is the seventh release in the acclaimed series of the complete symphonies by W.A. Mozart recorded by the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and their renowned Austro-Hungarian chief conductor Adam Fischer. On this volume you can enjoy the symphonies nos. 31, 33 and 34 composed during 1778-80. The CD booklets in this series offer reflective essays on Mozart and the Classical period - this time about the composer's special choice of keys for his symphonies as well as his relation to his audiences. “Fischer grabs instant attention...turning the first-movement Allegro assai into a curtain-raiser of a kinetic excitement that could have run away with itself. But Fischer is in unqualified control, the clarity of SACD revealing detail but some shallowness too...Fischer's pliancy of phrase and range of micro-dynamics...are as impressive as his imperious opening movement and virtuoso finale.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart - Symphonies Nos. 29, 31, 32, 35 & 36
The multi-award-winning partnership of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Sir Charles Mackerras is reunited in this second collection of Mozart Symphonies featuring Nos 29, 31 (Paris), 32, 35 (Haffner) & 36 (Linz)’. This much anticipated recording follows on from the astounding success of ‘Mozart Symphonies 38 – 41’ which resulted in him winning the Critics’ Award at the 2009 BRIT Awards and led to ’Mozart Symphonies 38-41’ being named Disc of the Year at the 2009 BBC Music Magazine Awards. This recording includes both versions of the 2nd movement of the Paris Symphony; unusually Sir Charles requested that the alternative version follows the original, rather than coming at the end of the album as an appendix. An obsessive musical researcher, Sir Charles merged his considerable knowledge of these works with scores and parts he has been editing from available sources for years for this recording. Sir Charles Mackerras has won widespread praise for his fresh, vibrant and youthful Mozart performances, which was named the classical recording of 2008 by the Sunday Times and HMV Choice. It also won a 2009 Midem Award for Symphonic Works and a Choc de l’année Award from Le Monde de la Musique. This recording re-unites the award-winning team, including producer James Mallinson, who has just been nominated for a Grammy award. Sir Charles Mackerras, the SCO’s Conductor Laureate, has produced numerous award-winning recordings, performed fifty times at the Edinburgh Festival and in 2005 was the first recipient of the ‘Queen’s Medal for Music’. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has a large UK-based fan base following performances throughout Scotland and regular appearances at the Edinburgh, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals, the BBC Proms and on BBC Radio 3. “Even though the earlier symphonies lack the maturity and startling grandeur of the Prague and the Jupiter, Mackerras manages to wring every last drop from them, and the SCO's glorious playing is enhanced by Linn's admirable recording technique...Highly recommended.” The Observer, 7th March 2010 “There's a clarity to the acoustic as recorded in Glasgow's City Halls, which Mackerras uses to his advantage, instinctively bringing out telling inner lines...there's so much to enjoy on these discs - armfuls of wit and humanity...and vivacity aplenty too in the Haffner and Linz.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2010 “The Haffner is the king of this pack. Mackerras explores its shapes and textures with particular care. Opening and closing movements crackle with electricity. Everything comes stamped with character, intelligence and beauty.” The Times, 12th March 2010 “the Haffner and Linz are magisterial accounts of much-recorded music. Mackerras seems to find exactly the right tempo for each movement — the deliciously witty presto finale of the Haffner goes with irresistible zing — and revels in the festive spirit of the big outer movements” Sunday Times, 14th March 2010 “Clarity prevails, and animation. These are the kind of performances that make it difficult for the listener to sit still. One is impelled to pace or even dance around, to gesture and nod...when you are in a get-up-and-go frame of mind, Mackerras is the man, with rhythm and vigour to the fore.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 **** “ For all their rhythmic life and variety, and the sheer joie de vivre that is so infectious in so much of the playing, Mackerras's interpretations may occasionally be too matter-of-fact and raw-edged for some tastes...though to counterbalance that, it's hard to imagine the final climax of Symphony No 36, the Linz, more conclusively or majestically presented.” The Guardian, 15th April 2010 **** “Never less than honeyed in tone, the strings use vibrato sparingly, as a subtle colouring device rather than a wearisome all-purpose wash. Speeds are consistently spritely (but never gabbled), textures are wonderfully clear, wind and brass vibrant.” Graham Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 16th March 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart - Symphonies
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart in Paris, 1778
"I've never heard a performance that made me smile as much as this...a wholly delightful disc that reawakened my appetite for music I thought I'd heard once or twice too often." (Gramophone) “…Mozart created a sensation with his new symphony… and I don’t know of any recording that catches its proud swagger and sonorous richness as vividly as this new one. The outer movements have a thrilling bravado, with the period instruments imparting a revelatory brilliance and pungency to the tuttis... The slighter Flute and Harp Concerto gets a gentle, chamber-musical performance full of witty and elegant details of timing and ornamentation. ...a wholly delightful disc that reawakened my appetite for music I thought I'd heard once or twice too often.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2006 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
This is Swiss clarinettist Fabio di Casola's fourth CD for Sony Classical. Here, his performance of the popular Mozart Concerto is coupled with the wonderful "Sinfonia Concertante" for woodwind and orchestra and the "Paris" Symphony. The Musikkollegium Winterthur is directed by its new chief conductor - Douglas Boyd. “In the serene outer sections of the Adagio he spins the purest, most liquid of lines. But I can't recall a more urgent and impassioned performance of the first movement, or one that draws on a bolder palette of colours...Douglas Boyd draws finely detailed playing from the excellent Winterthur band” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010 “It is an attractive performance, avoiding the Romantic indulgences which have been retrospectively wished upon this late masterpiece, and making it thereby the more moving and affecting.” International Record Review, October 2010 “[Di Casola's] brilliant tone and mellifluous technique are allied to immaculate musical instincts: he catches the mood shifts of the opening allegro...and the sublime adagio sounds like an aria without words, “sung” with inexhaustible reserves of breath, astounding dynamic spectrum and palette of colour...An unforgettable performance.” Sunday Times, 11th July 2010 ***** “...a performance [of the Clarinet Concerto] that is operatic in all seriousness – grand in scale and moodily intense. Da Càsola wrings huge emotions from it, while Boyd is very much his equal in seeing the work in terms of high drama...The orchestral sound is unfashionably full, but the playing is consistently fine.” The Guardian, 8th July 2010 *** “Fabio Di Càsola manages to convey, in the gorgeous 2nd movement Adagio, something of the character of the lower-register basset clarinet for which the concerto was apparently written.” The Independent, 30th July 2010 **** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 25 & 31
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| |  | Mozart - Symphonies 31, 39, 40, & 41
John Nelson, one of the world’s most versatile and accomplished conductors, also a great interpreter of this repertoire, conducts The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris in this 2CD release that features some of Mozart’s most famous symphonies including the ‘Paris’ and ‘Jupiter’ Symphony. For the last and final concert in the wonderful collaboration between John Nelson and The Ensemble orchestral de Paris, there was no question in John Nelson’s mind but to program the pinnacle of the repertoire written for the size of the ensemble – Mozart’s symphonies. Ten years separate the writing of the four Mozart symphonies featured on this 2CD set. Mozart’s 31st Symphony in D Major was written not long after he moved to Paris in 1778, and was premiered that same year. As the last three symphonies (Nos. 39-41) were written in a very short time during 1788, it appears likely that the composer conceived them as a cycle. The last of these, the 41st in C Major was later given the name “Jupiter” by the English impresario Salomon, and is considered by many to be the culmination of Mozart’s genius with its constant inventiveness and dizzying expressivity. The main challenge John Nelson faced when recording these symphonies was to rediscover ‘the true Mozart style’ that he felt had been clouded by years of bad practice and to let Mozart’s vivacious personality speak freely. Nelson is recognized throughout the world for his interpretations of the great Romantic works, the Baroque repertoire, his vibrant approach to Mozart and Haydn, and his enthusiasm for contemporary music. He has been music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Caramoor Music Festival in New York. He was also guest conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon. Since 1998 John Nelson has been music director of the Ensemble orchestral de Paris. His list of recordings (on EMI, Virgin Classics, Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BMG, and Erato) is rich and varied. Among the prestigious awards he has received are a Grammy for Handel’s Semele, a Diapason d’Or of the year for Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and two Victoires de la Musique Classique with the Ensemble orchestral de Paris for Best Music DVD of 2004 (the Beethoven Piano Concertos with François-René Duchâble) and Best Ensemble of 2004. | | | (also available to download from $21.25) | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Mozart in Paris
| | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Mozart - Salzburg Festival 1956
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Gramophone Awards 2010