BaL 14.04.12 Mozart Symphony no 41 "Jupiter"

[vinteuil]

It was there all the time.

[Hogwood] - Was it? I couldn't find it in your alphabetically ordered #1...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

[Hogwood] - Was it? I couldn't find it in your alphabetically ordered #1...

You are absolutely right, of course. I scanned Cloughie's list by mistake. Now I really have added it.

[Petrushka]

Really, Martin Cotton has set himself a well-nigh impossible task here. If he has listened to every available version then I'd doubt if he would want to hear it ever again! There are simply too many perfectly good versions out there to make the exercise worthwhile. Perhaps better, as I said regarding a previous BaL, (on the Eroica I think) to tell us which ones to avoid.

For what it's worth I have a great liking for the ECO/Britten. The full clutch of repeats gives the work an epic dimension that it deserves, as does the Mackerras. On a more general level my own recommendations would be, in no particular order, Orchestra Mozart/Abbado, Concertgebouw/Krips and VPO/Bohm (1977 version).
If pushed to choose just one I'd go for Bohm which often manages to find its way into my CD player.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Bernstein with the VPO is my favourite "big band" K551: superbly played and recorded, fleet of foot (perhaps the Minuet a little slow, but the playing is so seductive I'm won over), dynamic, dramatic and energetic and with every repeat observed!

The only HIP performance I have is the Hogwood discussed above, which I've always found a bit uninvolved and "safe": a pity, as it's coupled with a genuinely effervescent K 338. I used to have Kuijken & La Petit Bande on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, but that was a few removal firms ago.

No, I don't envy MC, either, Pet; and I suspect there'll be a few disgruntled comments on this Board appearing after 10:30 next Saturday!

[MickyD]

I think the ground-breaking Hogwood/AAM is still available?

Single disc versions of it can be found, but I notice that Hogwood's complete Mozart symphony set (19 cds) is available for around fifty quid on Amazon. I know it is a bit rough around the edges in places, but I have always loved this cycle - it reminds me of the excitement I felt when hearing these works for the first time on period instruments.

[vinteuil]

Hogwood's complete Mozart symphony set .... I have always loved this cycle - it reminds me of the excitement I felt when hearing these works for the first time on period instruments.

exactly. I have the big 'brick' of it from when it first came out - life-changing

[aeolium]

Really, Martin Cotton has set himself a well-nigh impossible task here.

I agree, but if you look back at the BaLs for the last 12 months the great majority have been on very well-known works, and often works with 30-50 recordings. It's quite rare that BaL goes off the beaten track, yet surely many of the regular listeners would be more interested in works where the music was as much of a discovery as the recordings.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I too would not know where to begin. Ofe the recordings I have, the Concertgebouw/Krips is my first choice, but there so many more, and I don't envy the reviewer. But I do not think it would be acceptable to narrow the field with the stroke of pen- e.g. nothing pre 2000' or HIPP only as has happened in some BaLs in the last year or so.

[jayne lee wilson]

I always have a better experience keeping off the beaten track with familiar classics. I've had a great time with two live Jupiters from Salzburg, Sandor Vegh with the Camerata Academica from 1992, and Roger Norrington also with the Camerata from 1998, both on Orfeo of course. Released 1998 and 2001 respectively. Gorgeous sound - THAT orchestra in THAT hall... (well, those halls: Mozarteum for Vegh, Kleines Festpielhaus for Norrington).

There's a lovely 24/96 open reel transfer of Jochum's RCO Amsterdam reading at HDTT.

[MickyD]

exactly. I have the big 'brick' of it from when it first came out - life-changing

Me too, what luxury, having all those original covers and exhaustive notes on each work!

[gurnemanz]

These BAL threads are good for giving me a reason for doing a quick tour d'horizon of my own "library" (a mere 6 CDs, so not so challenging as the real thing). Even after many, many years I can still remember Antony Hopkins making a big impression on me with his Jupiter analysis in his Talking About Music series. I bought Bruno Walter on LP, long since replaced by CD and still possibly my favourite of the half dozen recordings I have. I also have Karajan/BPO but don't play it much (the portentous start puts me off), the famous Beecham/LPO and Bernstein/NYPO. Other contenders for favourite are the marvellous Pinnock and a lovely version with great wood wind from Jochum + Boston Symphony - not mentioned anywhere above (or probably in BAL) but available as a download from DG:

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4697982

[cloughie]

I think that the Jupiter is a very adaptable work - ether big band or small forces, orig insts and whatever. I have several versions that I like. I think way back I got to know it on a WRC LP by Collins and the Sinfonia of London. I also ECO Tate and LCP Norrington and the Mozart Orchestra Abbado but then Kempe, Klemperer, Karajan and Beecham also sound good. One I heard on radio which is very different to my ears is Minkowski.

[Bryn]

For me it would be Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Sir Roger Norrington, rather than the earlier recording he made with the LCP, not that I would want to be without that, or many others either.

[visualnickmos]

At the risk of shouts of 'Luddite' after my name, I actually have a real feeling for Klemperer's WAM 'Jupiter'. That's not to say I ONLY like his; Mackerras, Szell, Solti, Kubelik, Walter, Bernstein, Böhm - all great performances....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

At the risk of shouts of 'Luddite' after my name, I actually have a real feeling for Klemperer's WAM 'Jupiter'. That's not to say I ONLY like his; Mackerras, Szell, Solti, Kubelik, Walter, Bernstein, Böhm - all great performances....

Don't apologise for liking what is a fine performance that has a majesty of its own. Luddism is about destroying things to preserve the status quo. you are doing nothing of the kind - merely expressing an honest opinion.