Mozart: Symphony No. 24 in B flat major, K182

“The playing indeed is a joy” Gramophone Magazine (Nos. 13-16)

“These symphonies may be short in length but they are full of sizable things; they are never less than engaging and they sometimes go into Mozart's heart-felt vein. Marriner appreciates all this and gives every passage its own character, both in the vivacious fast movements and in those that go deeper into emotion […] these are extremely perceptive and utterly delightful performances […] I remember, not only no better performances of these symphonies but none nearly as vital in lively movements or as sensitive in slow” Gramophone Magazine (Nos. 23, 24, 26, 27)

“The performances have splendid life and polish … the disc can be warmly recommended to all Mozartians” Penguin Guide (Nos. 25, 29)

“Fischer gets his orchestra to play with fierce intensity, so that works which usually seem accomplished but conventional take on a fresh complexion.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 *****

“Here are three symphonies from Mozart's late teens, written in Salzburg, in crisply articulated performances. The first of them is a Sturm undDrang piece in G minor, a key that the composer reserved for moods of agitation. Mackerras takes the orchestra through the big opening Allegro conbrio of No 25 with drive and passion, although it's unlikely that Mozart would have expected a Salzburg orchestra in the 1770s to play as fast as this skilful body of Czech players. The gentle Andante comes therefore as a relief, though here too Mackerras keeps a firm rhythmic grasp on the music, and indeed a taut metrical aspect is a feature of all three symphonies as played here, so that minuets dance briskly and purposefully and finales bustle. However, the sunlit warmth of the beautiful A major Symphony, No 29, comes through and the bracing view of the other two symphonies is a legitimate one, though giving little or nothing in the direction of expressive lingering, much less towards sentimental indulgence.
The Prague Chamber Orchestra is an expert ensemble, not overlarge for this style of music, and the recording is without doubt admirably clear although a little reverberant.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The complete musical satisfaction provided by the four Italian-overture symphonies... is due to the intrinsic fullness and vigour of the orchestration, and to the NCO's lively performances.” Gramophone Magazine

“This set is pure joy. These are period performances, but there's nothing hair-shirt about them.
Pinnock caresses the slow movements with great affection, and throughout there's a sense of fun and enjoyment. What's exciting is the sweetness of the period-instrument sound and the suppleness and flexibility The English Concert brings to the music. They play, much of the time, as if it were chamber music, particularly in second subjects – the lyrical passages, that is, where they shape the phrases with a warmth and refinement you hardly expect in orchestral music. Timing is quietly witty, yet not at all contrived or artificial: it's the sort of expressive refinement that depends on listening to one another, not on the presence of a conductor. There's large-scale playing, too.
The middle symphonies are especially good.
The opening of the brilliant K133 (No 20) has a splendid swing, with its prominent trumpets, and a real sense of a big, symphonic piece. K184 (No 26) is duly fiery and its accents are neatly judged. K201 and K202 (Nos 29 and 30) are both very impressively done: an eloquent rather than a fiery account (though something of that too) of the opening movement of K201, with a particularly euphonious and shapely Andante.
The finales of both are done with exceptional vitality and the rhythmic resilience that's characteristic of these performances.
Pinnock's Jupiter (No 41) is truly outstanding.
The first movement is duly weighty, but energetically paced, and its critical junctures timed with a keen sense of their role in the shape of the whole. In the Andante he draws an extraordinarily beautiful, almost sensuous sound from The English Concert, and the lines are moulded with tenderness. This, above all, is the quality that distinguishes Pinnock's recordings from all others, this natural and musical sound, deriving from the way the players are intently listening to one another; and it's fitting that it reaches its high point in the Jupiter. As for the finale: well, it's decidedly quick, giving the impression of a performance in which the orchestra is pressed to an extent that its ensemble playing is under stress, though it holds together. It's a very bold, outspoken reading, which leaves one gasping afresh at the music's originality.
In short, quite outstanding performances, unfailingly musical, wholly natural and unaffected, often warmly expressive in the slow music and always falling very happily on the ear, with no trace of the harshness that some think is inevitable with period instruments. They are excellently recorded, with the properly prominent wind balance helping to characterise the sound world of each work.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010