Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K201

Some of Mozart's lesser known symphonies are integrated for this Mozart/Maag release, with mono recordings of Nos. 28, 29, 34 (among the earliest of Maag's Decca recordings) coupled with stereo recordings of the Symphony No. 32 and the delectable Serenata Notturna. Everywhere, style, finesse and charm are evident in these performances.

Mozart is not the first composer one associates with Sir John Barbirolli, yet his name was never long absent from the conductor’s programmes. The G minor Symphony No.40 was in the very first programme Barbirolli conducted with the Hallé Orchestra – in the old Free Trade Hall, Manchester in January 1933 – and he chose the ‘Linz’ Symphony (No.36) for his first concert as conductor of the New York Philharmonic in November 1936. So the canard that in some way JB tried to avoid Mozart because the critics did not always approve of his interpretations is unjust: that in New York he chose a Mozart symphony for arguably the most crucial concert of his career is sufficient refutation in itself.

Barbirolli had conducted Mozart symphonies with his own chamber orchestra in the 1920s, when he first took up conducting, and it was then that he grew particularly fond of the Symphony No.29 in A. (In later years he invariably reduced the orchestra to near-chamber proportions for both Mozart and Haydn.) These Pye stereo recordings of the Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’ and Symphony No.29 were recorded in 1956 and the Overture to ‘Die Zauberflote’ in 1959 and have been digitally remastered by EMI.

This is the latest 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. 28, 29 and 30 as well as the informative CD booklet offering the conductor's commentaries to each symphony as well as reflective essays on W.A. Mozart and the Classic period.

Romanian-born Constantin Silvestri was principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 1961 until his death from cancer in 1969 aged 55, two years after being granted British citizenship. It was certainly not material gain that tempted Silvestri to the seaside town of Bournemouth nor the kudos of association with an internationally famous orchestra. Inevitably the question was asked (and still is) why did someone who had already been the guest conductor of some of the world’s most renowned orchestras - the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Concertgebouw, five of Britain’s most prestigious and two in the US - each time attracting audience enthusiasm and mainly favourable reviews, why did he choose to become principal conductor of a provincial orchestra, however worthy its reputation, and in a country with whose language he was barely acquainted? What can be gleaned of Silvestri’s motives from his answer when this question was put to him in a television interview? ‘I was a teacher in Romania for ten years and a conductor is also a teacher... The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has a national reputation, but I think in two or three years it will become internationally famous.’

This CD is very rare and documents Klemperer's return to Stockholm following his last appearance in 1947. Peter Heyworth in his authoritative book on the conductor, states, "In contrast to the wild and unpredictable figure the city has seen 11 years earlier, he now impressed the orchestra with his air of quiet authority. After the final concert (Beethoven's 'Eroica') it played a salute and the orchestra joined in with a standing ovation".

Beethoven's Symphony No.3 was very much part of Klemperer's repertoire and this performance in terms of tempo is broadly similar to his later EMI version from October 1959 though both the scherzo and finale are quicker in Stockholm.

The coupling is Mozart's Symphony No.29, a favourite of Klemperer, in another rarity not issued before while the conductor was in Munich in April 1956. Medici Masters have also published Klemperer's performance of Bruckner's Symphony No.7 (MM0302) from this time.

Superb remastering from Tony Faulkner.

Ferenc Fricsay was seen as an exponent of modern, detailed and precise music-making, and as a leading Mozart conductor alongside Bruno Walter and Karl Böhm. Two live recordings and one studio production from the early Fifties document the collaboration between Fricsay and “his” RIAS Symphony Orchestra which, after becoming its chief conductor in 1948, he had made into an elite ensemble. These recordings also document his esteem for Mozart’s music which was characterised by a deep seriousness.

Fricsay’s devotion to sculpting the melodic line finds a precise and supple medium in the meticulous and stylish RIAS Symphony Orchestra who display an astonishing quality, particularly in the live recordings.

The symphonic works featured on this 2CD set all come from a period during the second half of the eighteenth century that has come to be known as the “Age of Enlightenment” when Frederick the Second ruled over Prussia. Alongside acknowledged masterpieces by Mozart and Haydn, the program also includes pieces by Hasse, Graun and C.P.E Bach that are receiving their first ever recording. The music is performed by the rising stars of the Austrian Chamber Group “Modern Times_1800”.