Collections of Mozart symphonies

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

We’ve had lists of favourite symphony recordings by Beethoven and others. How about one of the composers of rather more than 9 symphonies – Mozart?
I suggest listing them in reverse numerical order as most people are likely to be less familar with the early works, and to keep it simple, just the numbered ones (minus 2, 3 & 37). Here goes with my preferred recordings:

41 - Concertgebouw, Krips
40 – VPO, Furtwangler
39 – ASMF, Mariner
38 – RPO, Beecham
36 – VPO, Bernstein
35 – Concertgebouw, Krips
34 – LPO, Colin Davis
33 – VPO, Levine
32 – ASMF, Marriner
31 – RPO, Beecham
30 – BPO, Bohm
29 – Halle, Barbirolli
28 – Columbia SO, Walter
27 - ASMF, Marriner
26 - ASMF, Marriner
25 - Columbia SO, Walter
24 - Concertgebouw, Krips
23 – BPO, Bohm
22 – VPO, Levine
21 - Concertgebouw, Krips
20 – ASMF, Marriner
19 – BPO, Bohm
18 – VPO, Levine
17 – ASMF, Marriner
16 – BPO, Bohm
15 – ASMF, Marriner
14 – VPO, Levine
13 – ASMF, Marriner
12 – VPO, Levine
11 – ASMF, Marriner
10 – ASMF, Marriner
9 – BPO, Bphm
8 – VPO, Levine
7 – ASMF, Marriner
6 – VPO, Levine
5 – ASMF, Marriner
4 – BPO, Bohm
1 – BPO, Bohm

It would be rather a good idea if someone were to issue nos. 2, 3 & 37 on the same CD.

[waldo]

I'll take 1 - 41 in the Pinnock/English Concert set every time. No offense intended, EA, but I don't think I could enjoy even one recording on your list. A bit too "old school" for my tastes.........

[Roehre]

I'll take 1 - 41 in the Pinnock/English Concert set every time. No offense intended, EA, but I don't think I could enjoy even one recording on your list. A bit too "old school" for my tastes.........

I concur for the best part with Waldo here, though the Marriner early and Krips late(r) symphonies are very well digestible, something I cannot say about any of the others (and that unfortunately includes Davis here - and I really like his concertgebouw Haydn symphonies). The complete set in the Brilliant big box is very nice too IMO (HIP-influenced), as are most of the recordings with Leinsdorf (small forces, a bit HIP influenced before the term was invented, recorded at the same time as most of Böhm's (is he the first one to complete a full cycle? And he includes at least KV17 and 18, but no 19a, as that one emerged in the early 1980s).

[Thropplenoggin]

The lean mean Mozart machine that is Pinnock/English Concert for me in No.'s 25-41, for the same reasons cited above. I don't know the earlier symphonies yet.

I have forsaken the Mackerras/Prague Chamber Orchestra recordings I had. The Teldec sound which others have praised on these boards (JLW?), I always found so delicate and wispy as to be ethereal, requiring ludicrous cranking up of the volume to make out the andantes. Not for me.

I am still debating whether to plump for Mackerras on Linn, which I've heard via Spotify. Very beefy accounts but perhaps too muscular? Are the brass and timps supposed to overwhelm as they do in these recordings?

As for the Klemperer GRoC cycle I bought, the 'big band'-ness and slower tempi have become more difficult for me to enjoy in the post-HIPP world.

[mathias broucek]

I have a great fondness for Bernstein's late VPO Mozart symphonies. Lots of energy and both repeats in the Jupiter's finale

[Julien Sorel]

The lean mean Mozart machine that is Pinnock/English Concert for me in No.'s 25-41, for the same reasons cited above. I don't know the earlier symphonies yet.

I have forsaken the Mackerras/Prague Chamber Orchestra recordings I had. The Teldec sound which others have praised on these boards (JLW?), I always found so delicate and wispy as to be ethereal, requiring ludicrous cranking up of the volume to make out the andantes. Not for me.

I am still debating whether to plump for Mackerras on Linn, which I've heard via Spotify. Very beefy accounts but perhaps too muscular? Are the brass and timps supposed to overwhelm as they do in these recordings?

As for the Klemperer GRoC cycle I bought, the 'big band'-ness and slower tempi have become more difficult for me to enjoy in the post-HIPP world.

It's heretical, but I've never understood the fuss about Mackerras's Mozart. I know Norrington raises hackles, but the Stuttgart recordings on Hännsler are for me excellent in their vivacity and imagination. Immerseel's recordings of the last three symphonies on period instruments on ZigZag are very good and there's now this attractive collection http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Zigzag/ZZT324.

[Thropplenoggin]

It's heretical, but I've never understood the fuss about Mackerras's Mozart. I know Norrington raises hackles, but the Stuttgart recordings on Hännsler are for me excellent in their vivacity and imagination. Immerseel's recordings of the last three symphonies on period instruments on ZigZag are very good and there's now this attractive collection http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Zigzag/ZZT324.

Am I right in recollecting that Norrington's 'Jupiter' was the recent BaL winner?





Beret? Check!
Foulard? Check!
Hand on hip leaning against wall? Check!

Nozza gives his French gentilhomme look his best shot. "If this doesn't help me shift a few units, nothing will!"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'll take 1 - 41 in the Pinnock/English Concert set every time. No offense intended, EA, but I don't think I could enjoy even one recording on your list. A bit too "old school" for my tastes.........

No offence taken, Waldo. It's always going to be a personal preference.

If I had to choose a single "set", it would be the Marriner, though I have Bohm and Levine too. I would like to get to know the Hogwood and Pinnock versions too, though the constant "intrusion" of the harpsichord on most recordings of the early symphonies (even Levine's) can be irritating. The rest of the orchestra observes all dynamics, but the (unscored) harpsichord cannot, so it's often inaudible in the loud passages, but is inescapable in the quieter bits.

[amateur51]

I have a great fondness for Bernstein's late VPO Mozart symphonies. Lots of energy and both repeats in the Jupiter's finale

Agreed!

[Parry1912]

Beret? Check!
Foulard? Check!
Hand on hip leaning against wall? Check!

Nozza gives his French gentilhomme look his best shot. "If this doesn't help me shift a few units, nothing will!"

Puts me in mind of this

Anyway, back to Mozart ...

I can't say I listen to the early ones all that often but I've got Tate's EMI set of 51 Mozart Symphonies for when I do. I've got Pinnock's set of nos 16 - 30 and I've just ordered his set of the late symphonies SH off the Amazon Marketplace. Looking forward to it. Would like get some more of Hogwood's at some point - his 'Paris' is fantastic!

Dare I also say that I enjoy Karajan's recordings of them as well.

[waldo]

Am I right in recollecting that Norrington's 'Jupiter' was the recent BaL winner?

I think it was. I seem to remember that they wouldn't even consider Pinnock (which is better) because of their absurd rules governing "availability". You can download it, you can borrow it from a library, you can listen to it on Spotify, you can order it as part of a boxset on multiple websites.........but as far as BAL is concerned, it is not "available" if it can't (currently) be bought new as a single, physical disc from a certain range of traditional sellers. I am sure this is an old topic in this site, but this silly restriction drives me mad every time it comes up. The best is when they name their top choice, but then say it isn't actually the official choice because it is not "available" (as they did this with the Beethoven violin concerto.) Then, when you look online, you can find it is available in dozens of places..........as, of course, just about everything is on the internet.

It as if we are all still living in the 70s and listeners are restricted to a small list of specialist mail-order companies. Baffling, absurd and very, very irritating.

[Thropplenoggin]

I think it was. I seem to remember that they wouldn't even consider Pinnock (which is better) because of their absurd rules governing "availability". You can download it, you can borrow it from a library, you can listen to it on Spotify, you can order it as part of a boxset on multiple websites.........but as far as BAL is concerned, it is not "available" if it can't (currently) be bought new as a single, physical disc from a certain range of traditional sellers. I am sure this is an old topic in this site, but this silly restriction drives me mad every time it comes up. The best is when they name their top choice, but then say it isn't actually the official choice because it is not "available" (as they did this with the Beethoven violin concerto.) Then, when you look online, you can find it is available in dozens of places..........as, of course, just about everything is on the internet.

It as if we are all still living in the 70s and listeners are restricted to a small list of specialist mail-order companies. Baffling, absurd and very, very irritating.

Spot on, sir!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have a great fondness for Bernstein's late VPO Mozart symphonies. Lots of energy and both repeats in the Jupiter's finale

- far and away my favourite "Big Band" recordings of the works. This was the first time I'd heard the Second Repeat in the Finale of the Prague - made me cheer with astonishment and delight. I still do, inwardly!

Furtwangler's VPO recording of K550 is also a white-hot reading - one of the very best things WF ever did. (Yep: that good.)

[Pianoman]

- far and away my favourite "Big Band" recordings of the works. This was the first time I'd heard the Second Repeat in the Finale of the Prague - made me cheer with astonishment and delight. I still do, inwardly! :biggrin

Agreed - those Bernstein VPO recordings take some beating - his 'Linz' bristles with life and colour.

Of modern approaches, I tend towards SCO/ Mackerras, which are muscular but fleet (rather than hard-driven) though I always liked his Telarc discs, even with the iffy audio quality.

[BBMmk2]

Well, most of you people here know my views on Mozart. But and this is a big but I came across the recordings by Sir Charles Mackerras and the SCO, asnd i was actually bowled over by them. Not that I am a WAM convert, he is still of an anaethma to me, but these recordings came across quite different to me.