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Complete Mozart Symphonies / Pinnock, English Concert |
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Home: You are here: Music : Complete Mozart Symphonies / Pinnock, English Concert |
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Complete Mozart Symphonies / Pinnock, English Concert  Rating: Rating:  - Enlightening!These recordings are a revelation! The late Mozart symphonies are clearly approaching Beethoven. Glenn Gould was wrong: Mozart did not die too late. Had he lived, there might have been no need for Beethoven. Rating: - Overall Great But...I have a home studio and therefore my interpretation will be more accurate. The sound quality was very good, not as good as modern Concerto Italiano or Venice Baroque Orchestra, but it was good. You can hear the slight tapping of the wind instruments which sort of sounds like a skip on the CD. It's a shame the instruments can't be tap-free. The performance seemed very accurate and very very consistent. I was very picky to point out these minor imperfections. Overall it's a great collection. Rating: - The best period instrument Mozart symphony cycle aroundTrevor Pinnock and the English Concert turn in the best period instrument Mozart Symphony cycle around. With 20-30 players, the English Concert sounds full and rich, and are so well recorded, one could mistake them for a modern instrument chamber orchestra augmented with more players for a bigger sound. The early symphonies employ fewer players, the symphonies from about No. 20 and following call for more players, in some cases trumpets, horns and timpani in addition to the usual strings, harpsichord, flutes, oboes, and bassoon. Pinnock chooses perfect tempos for the English Concert: allegros are spritely, but not driven and there's never a sense that the musicians are having trouble keeping up at Pinnock's tempos. Andante movements sing with the cantabile quality Mozart is famous for, and are always musical and flowing: very beautiful. I am not a big fan of period instrument Mozart. I have heard Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music (L'Oiseau Lyre) in Mozart Symphonies 34, 38, 39, and 41 and that's enough to give me a sense that Pinnock is superior - more confident, and better recorded - to Hogwood in this music. Haydn's symphonies seem to work better with period instruments than do Mozart's, but Pinnock and the English Concert have a special musical quality which MAKE Mozart work with a period orchestra. Incidentally, both Pinnock and Hogwood have recorded very fine Haydn Symphonies with their respective orchestras. I have also read, in AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE (July/August 2005 issue) in a review of the Mozart Symphonies with Linden/Mozart Academy of Amsterdam, a period orchestra (Brilliant Classics set) that Pinnock's Mozart cycle is to be preferred. I have not heard Linden myself, but ARG's review states that with the exception of Symphonies 20, 39, 40, and 41, Pinnock "wins across the board." The reviewer cites sour tuning, below standard pitch, sloppy playing, not enough contrasts of dynamic range and pokey allegros, as liabilites which are especially annoying in Linden's cycle, and advises the reader to go with Pinnock if looking for a period cycle of Mozart symphonies. Other options? Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic (DG); Krips/Concertgebouw (for Symphonies 21-41, Philips); Hans Graf/Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg (Capriccio); and Nicholas Ward/Northern Chamber Orchestra, modern instrument chamber orchestra (for early symphonies, Naxos). But unless you really hate period instruments, you will like Pinnock, as I do, and as I stated earlier: I am not a fan of period instrument Mozart. Rating: - The best period orchestra Mozart symphonies around!Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert perform Mozart's symphonies with great style, elan, and spirit, making this the best period orchestra Mozart Symphonies around. Pinnock deals alot in contrasts and atmosphere, setting a mood for each movement, within each symphony. The English Concert plays even Mozart's earliest symphonies-written when he was a pre-teen-as great music, and it works, very effectively. Allegros bristle with spirit, Andantes and Adagios emphasize cantabile (singing style) as all Mozart's music has a vocal/singing emphasis (in contrast to Haydn or Beethoven, who tend to build movements arount motives, or rhythmic patterns of notes; Mozart emphasizes melody moreso in many of his works). I am not a fan of period instruments in music of Haydn, Mozart, and any composers after Bach and Handel, but this cycle is really fine. My favorite Mozart Symphonies have been Karl Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic (complete cycle, DG); 21-41 by Joseph Krips/Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips, coupled with Marriner/Academy of St. Martin in the fields for 1-20); Bruno Walter/New York Philharmonic for Symphonies 25,28,29,35,36,38-41 (Sony); Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia for Symphonies 36,38-41 (EMI). But, Pinnock's accounts are spirited and the English Concert, at about 20-25 players, doesn't sound scrawny or ineffective at all. If you're used to the sonority of the Berlin Philharmonic or Philharmonia Orchestra, this will take some getting used to, but it is very good. This could be called "period instrument Mozart for those who don't like period instruments." I have heard Christopher Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music in Symphonies 34,38,39,41, and they are not as good as Pinnock's accounts. Hogwood's orchestra sounds small, puny compared with Pinnock's more robust group. I am not meaning to degrade Hogwood, as I have a number of fine recordings of his: Beethoven Symphonies 1,2; Handel's MESSIAH; Haydn Symphonies 94, 96; Boyce Opus 6 Symphonies. But in Mozart Symphonies, I prefer Pinnock. Pinnock's set is also well recorded, adding to it's high quality. You can't go wrong with these, unless you absolutely hate period instruments. |
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