Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K504 'Prague'

“Throughout these symphonies, recorded "live" with his young, hand-picked orchestra, articulation is crisp and pointed, vibrato abstemiously applied. Mozart's intricate contrapuntal textures in the first movement of the Prague and the finale of the Jupiter have rarely sounded so lucid. There is no denying the finesse of Abbado's phrasing and his care for inner detail. The flowing tempos for the andantes are ideally chosen. Too often, though, I hear coolness, a touch of over-calculation, in Abbado's conducting. Some of the detached, period-style bowing can sound finicky. The outer movements of the Jupiter and the stupendous first movement of the Prague have nothing like the incandescence of Charles Mackerras's recent Scottish Chamber Orchestra recordings (Linn).” The Telegraph, 26th July 2008

“The booklet quotes Abbado saying, “The study of phrasing in Mozart is endless.” Yes indeed, and the fruits are borne out in the conductor's live performances of five selected symphonies with his bouncy, young Orchestra Mozart. The Haffner first movement is especially thrilling and the pianissimos in No 29 would charm a mouse. Effects in No 33 seem more heavy-handed, but the set’s major drawback is the sound: constricted in tuttis, lacking air.” The Times, 25th July 2008 ***

“Mozart emerges here as a vital elixir: using the period-instrument orchestra he founded to perform music of the classical era, Abbado brings a time-honoured Mozartian tradition, learnt from the pianists Friedrich Gulda and Rudolf Serkin, to bear on these much-recorded works. The prestos of the Haffner and “Prague” positively tingle with excitement; the great finale of the Jupiter reveals Mozart’s complex counterpoint with unerring clarity. Textures are bright and clear, the balance between wind and strings is ideal and the sublime melodies of the slow movements are “sung” with an Italianate cantilena Mozart would surely have revelled in. A classic set.” Sunday Times, 10th August 2008 *****

“This is some of the best Mozart conducting you will ever hear. These performances are above all triumphs of experience, innate musicality and understanding, meticulous yet clear thinking, and… the art of listening.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“Mackerras's performance is as thrilling as one would expect from this great Mozart conductor. Possibly their finest record to date…I don't know more enthralling accounts of the G minor and the Jupiter on disc.” Sunday Times

“Mackerras doesn't short-change us on the tenderness and often painful lyricism… nor is he afraid to relax the tempo as a festive or belligerent motif gives way to a gentler one, with the strings… ravishing us with their tone.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2008 *****

“…rarely will you hear such well judged orchestral balance, such effective marrying of textural transparency an substance. The Jupiter in particular has a wonderful bright grandeur, yet reveals details in the brilliant contrapuntal kaleidoscope of the finale that too often go unheard.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“Mozart's last four symphonies…have rarely shone as luminously as in these uplifting accounts.” The Observer

“There is no need to argue the credentials of Sir Charles Mackerras as a Mozart interpreter, so let us just say that this double CD of the composer's last four symphonies contains no surprises – it is every bit as good as you would expect. Like many modern-instrument performances these days it shows the period-orchestra influence in its lean sound, agile dynamic contrasts, sparing string vibrato, rasping brass, sharp-edged timpani and prominent woodwind, though given Mackerras's long revisionist trackrecord it seems an insult to suggest that he would not have arrived at such a sound of his own accord. And in any case his handling of it – joyously supported by the playing of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – is supremely skilled; rarely will you hear such well judged orchestral balance, such effective marrying of textural transparency and substance. The Jupiter in particular has a wonderful bright grandeur, yet reveals details in the brilliant contrapuntal kaleidoscope of the finale that too often go unheard.
Seldom, either, will you hear such expertly chosen tempi; generally these performances are on the quick side, but rather than seeming harddriven they exude forward momentum effortlessly worn. Nowhere is this better shown in the slow movements (even with all their repeats they never flag, yet their shifting expressive moods are still tenderly drawn), but also conspicuously successful are the slow introductions to Symphonies Nos 38 and 39 and the Minuet movements of Nos 40 and 39.
These are not Mozart performances for the romantics out there, but neither are they in the least lacking in humanity. No, this is thoroughly modern-day Mozart, full of wisdom and leaving the listener in no doubt of the music's ineffable greatness.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Such has been the admiration (if not always affection) for René Jacobs's Mozart operas, and so striking have been the contributions of the period orchestras involved, that it seems only natural that he should try his hand at a couple of the great man's symphonies. The results fascinate in places and infuriate in others, but never lack for talking-points.
The Jupiter is the more successful, showing the kind of 'inside-out' rethink with which Roger Norrington used to enrage and delight. The first movement is playful, with Jacobs toning down the Olympian grandeur and mischievously emphasising the buffo elements – the chuckling third theme is given the special treatment of a slower tempo and subsequent accelerando, with one statement even adorned with an exuberant upward violin slide. The slow movement, luminous and taken at a perfectly judged brisk walking pace, will be less contentious, but not so the Minuet, which races by at an initially disturbing yet ultimately exhilaratingly satisfying one-in-a-bar. After all this creative energy, the surprisingly steady finale seems to lack ideas by comparison, though its contrapuntal panache gains much from the clarity Jacobs draws from the excellent Freiburg band.
Crisp and boisterous orchestral playing likewise characterises the Prague, though here Jacobs seems to find it more difficult to find a way into the heart of the music. The first movement has a stricter pulse than in the Jupiter, and, while the development emerges as a thrilling battleground, the second subject's beautifully consoling woodwind lines are shown none of the loving tenderness they deserve. The Andante seems uncertain of its tempo (Jacobs is not the first conductor to struggle here), and the finale does not quite convince at its supersonic speed.
Nevertheless, this is an intriguing and invigorating disc; Jacobs's Jupiter, at least, qualifies as among the most thought-provoking of recent years.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010