Mozart: Serenade No. 13 in G major, K525 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'

Recently awarded Canada’s prestigious Governor General’s Performing Arts Award 2012 for Lifetime Achievement in Classical Music, pianist Janina Fialkowska presents her second Mozart CD on ATMA with two rarely heard Mozart concertos.

Based in Ottawa, The Chamber Players of Canada is a group made up of some of the best musicians from across Canada.

During the 18th century it was common for noblemen to employ numbers of musicians to entertain themselves and their guests, and to add dignity and colour to occasions of Church and State. Music was frequently written to form a pleasant background to dinners and parties. Serious or complex music would clearly have been inappropriate for gatherings of this kind; it was the task of the composer to amuse the guests without overstepping his function and distracting them from the more important business of eating, drinking and making merry.

In these circumstances much music was produced which deserved no more than to be talked through; but composers of the ability of Mozart and Haydn responded with light music of a higher quality. The titles Divertimento, Cassation, Serenade and Notturno all refer to pieces of this kind. Elements of the old dances – allemande, courante, sarabande and so on – had fallen from favour, but the minuet was used a good deal and the style gallant was much in evidence.

Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields’ recording of Mozart’s most popular serenade – the ubiquitous Eine kleine Nachtmusik – made for Argo in 1970 has never been out of the catalogue, but the other works on this compilation, equally compelling, magically performed, have not, as often, seen the light of day on CD. Such is the case with the brief issue in Decca’s ‘World Of…’ series of the extended Divertimento KV 334 and the haunting Notturno for four orchestras, deploying extraordinary echo effects. These are complemented on this anthology with the Serenata Notturna, the three early Divertimenti KV 136–138, and the little-known but breezy Concertone opening the collection.

The symphonies Mozart wrote in his youth bear witness to the remarkable assurance of a composer whose genius was already in full flower. In 1773, on returning to Salzburg after spending several months in Italy, the seventeen-year-old Mozart resumed his position as Konzertmeister at the court of the archbishop. He had brought back from his stay in Italy a profound grasp of the art of instrumental writing, and it is from this period that his four-movement Symphony No.29 in A major (K201) dates. By turns energetic, nostalgic and witty, this work is imbued with a new spirit.

The celebrated Symphony No.40 in G minor (K550) dates from 1788 and is one of the most dramatic of all Mozart’s works. This symphony dispenses with any kind of slow introduction, plunging the listener straight into a dark-toned and restless Molto allegro that is full of contrasts, sparely orchestrated and shot through with bold modulations. This is followed by a meditative, almost desolate Andante. The down-to-earth humour of the robust Menuetto was remarked on by Berlioz, and the symphony ends with an Allegro assai that is permeated by an anguish and a profundity that look forward to German romanticism.

Completed on 10 August 1787, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (K525) is one of Mozart’s most frequently played serenades. Its four movements are models of balance, elegance and poetry.

This is another high quality recording in the mid-price Reference Gold series featuring top-ranking repertoire and leading artists.

On the 4th of June 2009 the Wiener Philharmoniker treat the Viennese public with a free open-air concert on the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace

The impressive historical setting of Schönbrunn Palace and its beautiful baroque gardens, a UNESCO world cultural heritage site, form a unique backdrop for this Summer Night concert

150,000 visitors were present in the audience, and the concert was broadcast world-wide in more than 50 countries.

Fourth release on ONYX from Moscow Soloists and this time it’s a popular disc of string favourites that have beein their repertoire from the very beginning: Grieg and Tchaikovskys’ homages to the forms of baroque and classical music and one of the favourite works from a composer who inspired them so much, Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik. This disc should be particularly easy to sell as the group play these works very often in concert as party-pieces.

ONYX and Moscow Soloists have enjoyed a very successful run: their first two discs (ONYX4007/ONYX4017) won a Grammy Nomination and Grammy Award respectively and their most recent recording of Tan Dun and Takemitsu (ONYX4027) has got great reviews so far.

Yuri Bashmet has also appeared on two other ONYX discs: his recent recital with Mikhail Muntian called Reminscences (ONYX4032) and as viola player in Julian Rachlin’s all-star Shostakovich disc (ONYX4026).

The music on the two CDs has been selected with four key stages of a wedding ceremony in mind. CD 1 is a selection of popular music for the entry of the bride and music for the exit of the bride and groom. CD 2 includes music for setting the scene and suggestions for the signing of the register.