BaL 14.04.12 Mozart Symphony no 41 "Jupiter"

[silvestrione]

I also have Karajan/BPO but don't play it much (the portentous start puts me off)

But see the thrilling live version from early in the BPO/Karajan years, ...in fact, there are two, can't remember which is the best, from Salzburg in 1957, Orfeo, and from Berlin in 1956, Audite. Probably not still available though.

[Roehre]

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

Life changing it was - I got the even older issues in 7 3LP-sets.
Btw, am I the only one who thinks two Jupiters (in my case AAM/Pinnock and CGO/Krips) is enough?

[gurnemanz]

Btw, am I the only one who thinks two Jupiters (in my case AAM/Pinnock and CGO/Krips) is enough?

You are almost certainly right there. I lived happily with only Walter for a couple of decades but then acquired Jochum in about 2003 (also very good) as a present from my wife, + three more coincidentally as part of seductively cheap box sets.

[visualnickmos]

am I the only one who thinks two Jupiters (in my case AAM/Pinnock and CGO/Krips) is enough?

I think Mozart is surely one composer above all others, that has a huge- to say the very least, - range of styles of performance in terms of the sheer abundance of recorded performances of pretty much all of his output. Just look at the list of available 'Jupiters'.
That must be a mark of his genius of composing music that is so timeless, open to so many facets of interpretation... I am convinced he would have approved, being the very forward-thinking and progressive man that he was, musically speaking.

[Barbirollians]

SCO/Mackerras for me too as a library choice but I would also put in a very good word for Boult,Beecham,Bernstein ,Menuhin, the early Klemperer and Sir Colin Davis

[silvestrione]

I must admit that I've always struggled a little with this symphony. Is the material interesting enough? There's no doubt that what Mozart does with it is involving, particularly in the last movement of course (where the conventional feel to the motifs has more point, the point being the polyphonic intricacies and cumulative power). But the two main themes in the first movement? Hardly anything there. The slow movement? Not much more than a tired 'classical era' motif (all those sfs rather pointless), but some superb development of the material, of course.

There seems to be a very fine line in Mozart between banality and the sublime. The first theme of the Prague has hardly anything to it either, and yet it is sublime somehow. Similarly with the lyrical second subject: those repeating phrases there become something heavenly. One could go on: the banal theme of the slow movement of K 595, but Mozart gets away with it because of the rest of the material..etc..

I wonder if I am alone in this? I do enjoy the 'Jupiter', but it does not grab me in the solar plexus as the other late symphonies do, at least, not until the last movement coda! But perhaps I've not yet heard the right performance, which brings us back to the next BAL!

[Nick Armstrong]

Of the recordings I have, the Concertgebouw/Krips is my first choice

Me too

I have an enormous soft spot for Krips's Concertgebouw readings of the Mozart Symphonies. The latter have never appealed to me half as much as the Piano Concertos, but the understated lilt and wonderful airy balance of the Krips performances and Philips recordings are as satisfying as it gets, for me. They've never really been readily available here I think (maybe as part of some big box set) - I bought up all the individual CDs at bargain price from FNAC in Paris.

[vinteuil]

I have an enormous soft spot for Krips's Concertgebouw readings of the Mozart Symphonies. / ... / They've never really been readily available here I think ]

... the decca 6 CD set of Krips's Mozart symphonies 21-41 readily available on amazon for c. £20

[Nick Armstrong]

... the decca 6 CD set of Krips's Mozart symphonies 21-41 readily available on amazon for c. £20

Ah yes... Well it wasn't when I was collecting them, in the days when they were on Philips. Of course, in addition I had the additional pleasures attendant upon browsing a foreign shop and coming out triumphantly with items not then available in the UK, for about 4€ a pop

[cloughie]

Ah yes... Well it wasn't when I was collecting them, in the days when they were on Philips. Of course, in addition I had the additional pleasures attendant upon browsing a foreign shop and coming out triumphantly with items not then available in the UK, for about 4€ a pop

These days I'm just pleased to be able to browse any record shop, market stall or outlet which has a box or two of CDs or LPs to flip through - they are becoming like hen's teeth!

[Nick Armstrong]

These days I'm just pleased to be able to browse any record shop, market stall or outlet which has a box or two of CDs or LPs to flip through - they are becoming like hen's teeth!

It's strange, and lucky for me I suppose, that I've not been in 'browsing' mode for some years. I've no longer got the urge to buy 'on spec' to add to the already over-spilling collection. My CD purchasing (assuming I'm not satisfied with a download) is now more tactical - I hear (or hear of) a specific CD I want and I order it online immediately. I'm much more likely these days to want this piece in that performance, and finding it online blends certainty with convenience.

I was in the Classical section of the remaining HMV on Oxford Street the other day, and idly flipped through the racks - I hadn't the slightest wish to buy anything on impulse.

[vinteuil]

- I hear (or hear of) a specific CD I want and I order it online immediately.

... and these Boards are largely responsible*


* Yes that includes you, Caliberama - Mozart Krips indeed...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[COLOR="#0000FF"]I was in the Classical section of the remaining HMV on Oxford Street the other day, and idly flipped through the racks - I hadn't the slightest wish to buy anything on impulse.

I had exactly the same experience in the Leeds store a fortnight ago.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

[COLOR="#0000FF"]I have an enormous soft spot for Krips's Concertgebouw readings of the Mozart Symphonies. The latter have never appealed to me half as much as the Piano Concertos, but the understated lilt and wonderful airy balance of the Krips performances and Philips recordings are as satisfying as it gets, for me. They've never really been readily available here I think (maybe as part of some big box set)

They were part of the Philips Mozart Edition on LP, which I bought in the early 1980s. The Krips symphonies and the Haebler Piano Concertos were dumped in favour of Marriner and Brendel in the later CD edition.

Of course if you want it on CD rather than as a cheap download, look at the price.

[Bryn]

They were part of the Philips Mozart Edition on LP, which I bought in the early 1980s. The Krips symphonies and the Haebler Piano Concertos were dumped in favour of Marriner and Brendel in the later CD edition.

Of course if you want it on CD rather than as a cheap download, look at the price.

But the £19.99 price at amazon.co.uk applies to both the 6CD boxed set and the mp3 download option. Of course, the Japanese CDs may be of better transfers.