BaL 23.11.24 - Mozart: Symphony 40 (in G minor, K550)

[Barbirollians]

Oh no, I think he's fascinating! (and can always be relied upon to put in a few HIPP recordings - is that why you don't like him?! )

I suspect he is bound to pick a HIPP version ! The others might as well not turn up !!!

[richardfinegold]

This is an insane BaL! There are dozens upon dozens of recordings out there of every conceivable kind and coming up with just one is even more insane. I have an impossible number on my shelves and in various boxes and all have something to offer.

Furtwangler in 1948 might be my earliest - I'll check - while Abbado and Mackerras are possibly my latest, something I'll also check.

Agreed . In my case my first exposure was Gunter Wand leading Cologne Gurzenich on an old Nonesuch lp, a sizzling account

[Barbirollians]

My favourites are the SCO/Mackerras, the Furtwangler ,VPO/Bernstein, the live Testament Barbirolli coupled with some terrific Wagner singing , Bruno Walter and Sinfinia Varsova/ Menuhin.

[smittims]

Glad to hear you mention Furtwangler. It was one of the few recordings of his the Record Guide praised , preferring it to Toscanini.

That said, I think my favourite will always be Beecham's 1954 recording.

[Darloboy]

Surprisingly this hasn’t been covered by BaL since March 1991 when Ted Greenfield chose Sinfonia Varsovia/Menuhin with Prague CO/Mackerras and the Naxos Wordsworth recordings also recommended

[Pulcinella]

Surprisingly this hasn’t been covered by BaL since March 1991 when Ted Greenfield chose Sinfonia Varsovia/Menuhin with Prague CO/Mackerras and the Naxos Wordsworth recordings also recommended

Apart from the CFP Mackerras and the BBC MM releases, this is the only other on my shelves, I wonder if as a result of the 1991 programme.

[mikealdren]

Surprisingly this hasn’t been covered by BaL since March 1991 when Ted Greenfield chose Sinfonia Varsovia/Menuhin with Prague CO/Mackerras and the Naxos Wordsworth recordings also recommended

All good choices and on my shelves along with Toscanini and Furtwangler. Very interested to see how performances have pulled on since 1991..

[Petrushka]

Very interested to see how performances have pulled on since 1991..

What is interesting about my collection of Mozart 40 recordings is that out of around 35 performances only one of them is by a living conductor (Blomstedt/Bavarian Radio SO).

[Ein Heldenleben]

I was pleasantly surprised by Fritz Reiner's recording, as he's not the first conductor I'd associate with Mozart.

His Jupiter symphony with the Chicago Symphony is one of the very greatest performances I’ve ever heard of the work. The virtuosity and daring of those players is so breathtaking : in the finale at one or two points you find yourself chuckling at the audacity of it all. Of course all this will pass for nothing with NK who will pick a version by players who just aren’t in the same league. That performance is a distillation of what’s great about the American symphonic tradition (and indeed the USA as a whole) . I imagine at the that time the orchestra was full of emigres and indeed refugee players from across Europe.

[oliver sudden]

Frans Brüggen’s late live set from Rotterdam is superb, especially the 41 but the 40 is also excellent. Although the repeats are missing from the finale, which I really don’t understand!

[richardfinegold]

What is interesting about my collection of Mozart 40 recordings is that out of around 35 performances only one of them is by a living conductor (Blomstedt/Bavarian Radio SO).

Hopefully Blomstedt will continue to be with us for a while but you a hair’s breath of being 35 for 35.
Speaking of the BRSO I was listening to their radio station yesterday and they played Bernstein and the VPO in the G Minor yesterday. Definitely old school but so musical! I wasn’t aware that they had recorded Mozart together

[Barbirollians]

The Britten has just arrived in a cheap Decca second hand CD - will give a spin now

[silvestrione]

Hopefully Blomstedt will continue to be with us for a while but you a hair’s breath of being 35 for 35.
Speaking of the BRSO I was listening to their radio station yesterday and they played Bernstein and the VPO in the G Minor yesterday. Definitely old school but so musical! I wasn’t aware that they had recorded Mozart together

Yes Bernstein/VPO did a Mozart series, no 38 onwards. Much admired on these boards, Ferneyhoughgeliebte revealing he'd leapt out of his seat with pleasure when realising Bernstein was repeating the second half of the last movement of, I think, the G minor.

[Petrushka]

Yes Bernstein/VPO did a Mozart series, no 38 onwards. Much admired on these boards, Ferneyhoughgeliebte revealing he'd leapt out of his seat with pleasure when realising Bernstein was repeating the second half of the last movement of, I think, the G minor.

In actual fact, Bernstein recorded the Mozart 25, 29 and 35 - 41 plus the Clarinet Concerto with the VPO for DG.

For Decca, he recorded the 'Linz' (36) and the Piano Concerto No 15 with the VPO.

[HighlandDougie]

Frans Brüggen’s late live set from Rotterdam is superb, especially the 41 but the 40 is also excellent. Although the repeats are missing from the finale, which I really don’t understand!

A reminder that I have this set. Listening to the no 40 reminded me of how much I don't really care for it as a Mozart symphony. Maybe it's the G minor but I cannot warm to it. I much like the Tarmo Peltokoski CD released a few months ago by DG but find myself skipping no 40. My loss. I’m sure that it makes me a bad person.