Search - W.a. Mozart :: Mozart Early Symphonies 1

I recommend the whole Hans Graf/Mozarteum Mozart Symphony cy

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 11/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would recommend the whole Hans Graf/Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra Mozart Symphony cycle to anyone who likes Mozart played by a modern instrument chamber orchestra. The playing is excellent: clean, and neat, yet musical with a perfect sense of proportion and Mozart's style. Of course: this orchestra, from the town where Mozart was born and lived much of his younger years (until he moved to Vienna at age 26) could play his symphonies and other works in their sleep. Hans Graf sets perfect tempos which serve the music well in nearly every movement of every symphony.



I bought this recording as part of the complete Graf cycle, available early in 2005 from an English supplier; Capriccio simply repackaged this, along with 10 other discs in the series and sold them in a budget priced set. Graf sometimes sets fast tempos, as in IV of Symphony 7: one of my favorite early Mozart symphony movements, with a tune that really gets under your skin - but they work! This may raise a few eyebrows, but I like it alot.



Capriccio supplies excellent sound, full and rich, yet not overpowering, and to the service of Mozart's music. The digital sound is never harsh or with a brilliant edge that some digital recordings (especially those made in the 1980s) can have.



Other options? Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic for the complete Mozart Symphonies (DG); Leinsdorf/London Philharmonic (MCA, early stereo in sound inferior to this disc); Pinnock/English Concert (period instruments, DG Archiv); Nicholas Ward/Northern Chamber Orchestra (Naxos). I've heard Marriner/Academy of St. Martin in the fields (Philips), and thought them less interesting than the others mentioned above. For some reason, Marriner seems endless and boring, while Bohm, Pinnock, Ward, and Graf decisively do not. Recommended."