Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn :: Knappertsbusch Conducts Handel, Bach, Mozart, & Haydn (2 CDs)

From American Record Guide

Record Collector | Mons, Belgium | 12/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""This collection is centered around Knappertsbusch's interpretations of the three last Mozart symphonies: #39 from a 1929 commercial recording with a scaled-down Berlin State Opera Orchestra, #40 and #41 from 1941 Vienna Philharmonic airchecks. The style is comparable to the conductor's contemporaries, but with the stamp of a personality lighter than Walter, more sober than Beecham, and more quixotic than Furtwangler. For the most part, this is uncomplicated, mildly sentimental Mozart, though the Jupiter is unexpectedly brooding. The Haydn #94 reminds us that full orchestras used to play Haydn, thinking it to be something like early Schumann. Never mind. It too is wonderful in its way, with lots more humor than you normally hear in the piece. There are some great hesitations in the minuet, and the surprise chord in the slow movement will send you into cardiac arrest if you're not prepared. Der Kna's romantic gusto is seductive in the Bach and Handel, and Wolfgang Schneiderhan is impressively lyrical in the violin concerto.""