Symphonies 25/26/28 7 4509-97485-2
[75.00]
25 - This invigorating
account of middle-period Mozart provides
great pleasure. What Harnoncourt adds
to the dramatic "little" G minor Symphony
is a direct link to the innovative Beethoven
of the Eroica Symphony in the bite of
articulation, the heightened harmonic
juxtapositions and the controlled rawness
of the tutti f and sf chords.
The first movement captures the urgency
and drama of Sturm und Drang and
has a compelling momentum, yet has ample
time for reflection and restrained anticipation.
This is admirably paced particularly
in the reduced tempo and dynamic of
the bridge passages, then launching
with awesome energy into the new tutti
sections where the repeated fast bowings
and wind and brass attacks give marvellous
point to Mozart's startling imagination.
Using four horns, and pairs of oboes
and bassoons, this is in many ways a
striking score and Harnoncourt misses
neither the grandeur nor the humour.
Perhaps there are moments when the modern
strings of the outstanding Concertgebouw
sound a touch plush for our current
Classical explorations, but it's a gorgeous
sound in its own right and they play
with fresh sparkle and always commit
instantly to the varying power and grace.
The horns certainly enjoy their moments
of ensemble: I'd prefer just a little
more prominence to the woodwinds.
The double-reeds do
have their moments of distinction in
the second movement (andante), taken
quite quickly, almost losing moments
of graceful point in the push to maintain
momentum; there are times when the upbeats
are not uniformly lifted by the strings,
and the downbeat stretches don't all
settle neatly. The phrasing, occasionally
slightly snatched at this tempo, doesn't
completely decide on two crotchets or
four quavers, but the long arches are
well conveyed.
The Menuetto (briskly
one-in-a-bar) returns to the gritty
minor, anticipating Schubert's Fifth
Symphony Scherzo in impact and bearing
some similarities in melodic contours.
There is much tasteful phrase-shaping,
and a slower trio (almost a beat = bar
of scherzo) which features the wind
section to perfection.
The almost attacca
last movement reveals the thematic connection
from the minuet and sets off with humorous
vitality: the strings fully delight
in the sprightly articulations and show
deftness allowing greater prominence
to their woodwind colleagues than in
the first movement.
The recording ideally
supports and projects all colours and
registers and conveys closely the vulgar
humanity and delicate charm of this
astonishing music - one of the lesser-known
masterpieces of Mozart's output.
26 - Look out there,
lads! - the military's arrived! This
is a stirring opening with pairs of
trumpets and horns, flutes, oboes, and
bassoons (but no drums): the fanfare
rhythms are projected unanimously by
the full ensemble with gusto, and the
contrasted softer, gentle phrases are
lovingly caressed into life, nowhere
more so than in the second movement,
which leads out of the first movement's
diminuendo and written-out rallentando
in another masterstroke of Mozart's
fertile imagination. From the open-air
bravado of the first movement, we enter
the drawing-room interior in darkened
tones to reflect on the world's sorrows
of losses in battle? - there is more
than a hint of the Eroica's funeral
melodies, keys and rhythms here, and
in the fragmentation of melodic elements
across the ensemble; surely Beethoven
knew this work well. The third and last
movement, a dazzling scherzo, proceeds
out of the slow music seamlessly: swaggering
semiquavers in the strings, rollicking
wind phrases - this thunders to a super-confident
conclusion. Dramatically conceived,
convincingly performed in every way
- a full engrossing symphony in less
than nine minutes!
28 - A typical arpeggio
tutti opens this scintillating performance
of one of the sunny first movements,
where all's right with the world and
humour's the key: although the strings
don't always negotiate their decorations
and semiquaver runs perfectly unanimously
they all enter the fun palace together
and there are infectious high spirits
throughout. The pairs of horns, trumpets
and oboes shine out appropriately, balancing
their longer notes or rhythmic interjections
ideally to the contrapuntal energy in
the strings. Occasional quaver upbeat
groups in the strings sound a little
hard-worked, though the wind versions
have a delicacy which feels more idiomatic
and natural. Arresting playing of much
spirit and vitality.
The muted violins begin
the andante innocently and disarmingly,
almost coyly, only for the tutti f to
catch us by surprise - Mozart's jokes
at the expense of players and listeners
are more often played out for their
true value these days and here we get
the full effect of his wake-up call.
Returning to the softer music, however,
doesn't fully recapture the subtle gentleness
of the opening, and the momentum is
pushed on just a little; slightly nervy
at times, the decorative demisemiquaver
violin filigree is well together, but
just a fraction less relaxed than it
might be. Later in the second section
the tempo settles nicely, and the repeat
seems to provide just enough more time
for everyone to feel their way onto
the cadence points: it can only be a
matter of a couple of beats per minute
different at the most, but the charming
easefulness of most of this movement
is utterly beguiling; the final bars
are exquisitely handled.
The bucolic Minuetto
(marked allegretto) is just brisk enough
for spirit, not quite one-in-a-bar.
The horns revel in their solo and ensemble
contributions here, and the playful
trio with its hints of cross-rhythms,
chirruping dotted patterns and spiky
piano phrases adds admirable contrast
- the DC is almost shockingly brief
and bold.
The finale has great
impact and caps this vital performance
with playing of outstanding virtuosity
in all sections - the strings have a
field day picking up rosette after rosette
for nimbleness, gracefully pointed bowing
and tightly controlled ornaments, while
the wind players add pastoral colours
of bird-calls and merry-making.
This is a super disc,
played often with tremendous verve and
always with powerful commitment and
variety; Harnoncourt's interpretations
are refreshing and reveal more than
the period of the music's composition,
much more the links to later composers,
whose debt to Mozart's genius is confirmed
afresh. A wonderful joy.
Symphonies 35/36 7 4509-97488-2
[62.18]
35 - The Haffner begins
with powerful strokes as if almost all
the orchestra wishes they had timpani
- richly integrated full classical sound,
for by now Mozart has double woodwinds
of all four instruments, and pairs of
horns and trumpets with timpani besides.
The symphony grew, or, rather, was reduced,
from a longer serenade (not the Haffner
serenade, though): the concept works
brilliantly at every level and shows
no sign of being a reworking. This reading
brings to the fore the dramatic power
of the melodic motifs, and the brilliant
orchestration, passing ideas across
easily from strings to wind, and employing
held notes in the wind while the strings
discuss the potential of a few notes
here, and a few phrases there, all contained
within the strongly marked repeating-note
rhythm which immediately gains attention
at the beginning and leads back to itself
with apparent inevitability.
In the andante we hear
a second violin line of arpeggiated
staccato semiquavers (later beautifully
parodied by the bassoon) which may well
have triggered Haydn's Surprise symphony
slow movement. There are some delicious
passages of writing particularly for
the winds, reminding the listener of
the dense, low texture Mozart created
in the Serenade for thirteen wind instruments,
a piece these players would know intimately.
Above we can hear the delicate violins,
sometimes pecking away at a single note,
sometimes twining round chromatically
searching for the cadence. The Concertgebouw
reveal the orchestral textures with
insight and care, and Harnoncourt sets
an ideal tempo for this long movement
(almost as long as the first and last
combined) so interest is constantly
engaged, and the pace never flags, nor
ever hurries.
The larger orchestra
(without flutes and clarinets here)
strikes the opening of the stately Menuetto
with the same touch as the first movement
- bringing a touch of cohesion to the
four-movement form, indeed Mozart's
first movement octave leap is here filled
into the arpeggio on the same note.
There is an earthy swagger in the fuller
passages, and a more dutiful reverential
tone and touch in the lighter filling.
The last movement builds
a mighty head of steam with scurrying
strings buzzing along with intense delight,
whilst the timpanist is clearly encouraged
to make all of the many dramatic moments
of single note and rolls alike. The
orchestra displays all-round virtuosity
as one expects of this outstanding ensemble,
and plays with authority, great good
humour and nigh-perfect precision. The
combination of Harnoncourt's historically
informed approach and massive enthusiasm
for life-affirming music-making and
an orchestra on such form is utterly
irresistible.
36 - The Linz was written
in just a few days of desperate urgency,
and reveals a composer at the height
of his imaginative powers: a performance
as attentive and responsive as this
brings out the darker colours and harmonic
turns of the atmospheric, Haydn-esque,
opening Adagio, matching the intensity
of rhythmic attack with tonal control
to point the phrasing with just the
right weight on the right notes. Once
under way in the Allegro, the repeating
rhythms generate an unstoppable momentum,
and the swaggering strings and roistering
wind, brass and timps. clearly feel
released by and into the musical argument.
The loud tuttis are powerful, gutsy,
no-messing blocks of musical energy
contrasted with the tremulous string
and oboe and bassoon by-play on gently
twisting, rising figures, hesitantly
creeping up and through to see if it's
all clear. The performers bring forward
the extremes of this writing, dynamically,
of course, but by exploiting to the
full their resources of colour and articulation,
and more often and more subtly, of fading
phrase-endings and controlled placement
of single notes and telling moments
of orchestral texture. This is grand
playing of grandly impressive music
- but able to enjoy a hearty laugh,
too. For a symphony written in a hurry,
this is a long and intricately worked
out in a remarkably balanced structure.
Also long is the second
movement, a display of inventive variation
from a gently lilting stop-go first
subject with insistent brass intoning:
the main melodic and rhythmic ideas
remind one of Haydn's playful quartets,
while the colours, and shifts of major
to minor, indicate where Beethoven and
Schubert would follow. The second section
begins with a hushed string search for
stability, then a remarkable wind-coloured
chord, as striking as a piano accordion
squeezing its pain into the texture,
followed by the gently lugubrious bassoon's
rising scale, which, unpromising as
a developmental motif it would seem
to most composers, here inspires Mozart
to a refined bridge back to the opening
theme. A later triplet section continues
the unravelling effect as the conjuror's
trick of endlessly spun threads pours
forth. To all this inventive marvel,
Harnoncourt and his players bring dedicated,
devoted skills of great refinement and
discretion: superb music-making on all
levels.
Sharply focused tone
and crisply matched articulations between
strings and wind, the opening bars of
the Menuetto have a flavour less Austro-German
than perhaps Italianate or even Slavic,
which is welcome, refreshing and highly
effective; the Trio more naturally conveys
the laendler lilt where double-reed
winds distinguish themselves with detailed,
delicate rubato and expression; the
balance and contrast of this pairing
of effects works admirably.
More or less attacca
to the last movement, and of particular
distinction here are the loudly repeated
2nd violin and viola semiquavers, the
crisp quavers from all the strings in
the closing group, and the bubbly enthusiasm
in all parts. I enjoyed the tightly
played grace notes which give an almost
folk feel to the snapping figures, yet
never going beyond tasteful. The development
section is strongly characterised, and
the players instinctively and nimbly
respond to the quick-shifting figuration,
dynamic instructions and high-octane
energy level of the writing - outstanding
playing.
The sleeve note quotes
Paumgartner's comment that the Linz
is a masterpiece unwilling to decide
between euphoric high spirits and cantabile
rapture - this performance conveys thoroughly
all of the features of such a dilemma
but doesn't leave the listener in any
doubt that this is a generously proportioned
symphony within which so much of human
experience resides, and to some of these
conundrums there are no answers, and
being left in a state of unknowing is
not all bad! On the contrary, the sheer
and unremitting pleasure of listening
to such music-making is complete.
Symphonies 38/39 7
4509-97489-2 [68.29]
38 - The opening of
the Prague employs solid tutti chords
(full classical woodwind, brass and
timps. but no clarinets) to make an
arresting and imposing impact - this
is music which won't let you go quietly.
There is tension in the air, from the
flattened sevenths, the gruesome bassoon
colours lurking beneath, in the dramatic
loud/soft exchanges, and the modal shifts
highlighting the potential of the tonic
minor and its related keys in a way
Mozart had only recently encompassed,
but began to use frequently in his last
works. The unsettlement continues into
the allegro with the syncopated string
patterns, and the deliberately off-beat
tutti accents.
The players provide
much energy and excitement in the excesses
of attack ideally suited to this temperamental
music, but some of the more sinuous
string lines are given rather more romantic,
too Romantic, treatment - against the
more pungent quasi-natural horn playing
which works a treat, this seems too
modern a sound, albeit from a great
modern orchestra doing their finest
to encompass Harnoncourt's eager urgings
in historically aware accounts. The
middle of the quick music (from halfway
through the first section repeat) flows
more naturally than the earlier passages
where laying out the material is done
carefully but just a little self-consciously;
once released, the orchestra and the
development create a real sense of inspired
invention shared by all performers and
composer equally, reaching for harmonic
roots and finally reverting to the recapitulation
only to choose to go in new directions
and to enjoy the experience of brand
new pathways met by surprise but welcomed
keenly. This approach allows tension
to build from within the performance
and to provide maximum relief at the
pleasurable release when returning to
home territory. There is much here of
genuinely classical, earlier, preciousness,
but sudden changes to the newer passionate
expression sound suitably convincing
to be at times genuinely frightening
in the coarse juxtapositions, whilst
also providing a balance of chalk and
cheese. At almost twenty minutes, this
is one of his longest symphonic movements,
and by including music of more andante
proportions, this first movement contains
material enough and variety enough for
the two normal first movements of other
symphonies. Yet what follows is another
andante: the "missing" movement is in
fact the minute and trio; this flowing
6/8 could almost be a slow and stately
minuet, but from the opening it is clearly
not just a dance but a musical argument
of similar grandeur to the first movement's
cogent working-out. The style - indeed,
the themes and orchestration, too -
are all very reminiscent of Don Giovanni
and Figaro which latter had taken Prague
by storm. The playing and direction
throughout this movement convey to a
nicety the constantly evolving melodic
invention, and the darker, sinister
horns presaging fateful doom set the
hairs tingling on the back of the neck.
There is something elemental here, and
even Brahmsian in the richness of the
texture, not inappropriately. It would
be hard to create a more contrasted
and more contemporary interpretation:
the tonal fullness of modern instruments
is needed here to create sonority and
weight to match the import of the musical
elements, yet the informed fluency of
the style is charmingly and satisfyingly
accomplished.
The finale hints at
Figaro character and themes again; here
the lissom and lithe strings tackle
the fleet-footed phrases surely and
carry us helter-skelter along, exhilarated
by the ride, and never at risk of falling
off, though there is enough hint of
danger for any speed merchant. A very
slight quibble is the flute tone, exposed
at times as being less focused in the
lower register and lower dynamics and
not quite carrying the musical line
from the violins to the high perfection
gained elsewhere. To compensate for
this minute carp the entries of the
timps. are always sharply made, always
varied according to context, and generating
a wide range of colour and bite to assist
the dramatic and harmonic context as
well as to be purely rhythmic in their
own right. Again, sudden juxtapositions
(tutti/ensemble, loud/soft, major/minor)
are the feature of the development section
and the orchestra responds unanimously
to every moment, knowing that the fit
will soon pass and the conclusion is
going to be joyful and exuberant as
the clouds blow away and the sun brightly
bathes all - this is a performance of
intelligence, wit and enormous character
which serves the music ever so well.
Invigorating, refreshing, but thought-provoking,
too - enriching on many levels.
39 - The slightly softer
woodwind colour of double flutes, clarinets
and bassoons, rather than with oboes,
and the key of E flat would predict
a modified response from Harnoncourt
and these players, and indeed this is
clear: but the ever-energetic timpanist
and brass still manage to invest this
noble opening with suitable military
might. The strings convey the balancing
charm easily enough before setting off
the Eroica-like 3/4 Allegro with a perfect
tempo, allowing forward drive to be
set and maintained yet all rhythmic
and decorative detail to be comfortably
played and naturally projected. The
earthy horn tone in the stronger chords
and climaxes, imitating natural horns,
provides a welcome change from the refined
sinuous colour they create in the opening
rising arpeggio, and the tutti chugging
chords motor along to grand effect,
whilst scales from the introduction
rain down in the strings. Within this
crotchet pulse there is much variety
of accentuation and stress from varied
articulations (changed attacks, and
stretched first beats, with varied shapes
of accent in the bowing and the blowing
alike). The development brings out further
shifts in tonal and attack control,
all well integrated by Harnoncourt to
keep the muscular energy rippling purposefully
through its exercises to reach a satisfying
conclusion in the emphatic recapitulation.
The Andante con moto
is more inconsistent in pulse treatment:
to be sure there is doubt as to which
beats of which bars require extra weight,
and this reading delightfully provides
some alternatives; but within the string
phrasing there sounds to be very occasional
lack of unanimity over which stress
is expected to make the most interesting
version, in both original and repeat
versions of the initial crotchet and
dotted figure grouping. The more dramatic
tutti sections leave one in no doubt
as to phrasing and the easing up at
the ends of sections to lead back to
opening material is gracefully handled.
The opera stage is close-by in this
expressive and flexible style - leading
lines are prominent and ably supported
by discrete accompaniments, and the
dotted rhythms and syncopations maintain
an inner heartbeat to the drama played
out. This movement does however have
more moments of very slight, but unnecessary,
rhythmic untogetherness than most of
the movements in this fine set.
So it is no surprise
that the Concertgebouw immediately put
this right by playing the crisp crotchets
of the Menuetto so tightly and crisply
(almost a la Beethoven 8's metronome
movement) that noone could fault their
ensemble. The surprise and delight in
the Trio is to give rare and greater
prominence to the string oom-cha rhythm
rather than as has been the custom to
the second clarinet's triplet arpeggios.
The changes of tempo between the Menuetto
and Trio and back again are handled
superbly and without any break in the
breathing phrases.
Harnoncourt's penchant
for attacca finales works brilliantly
here - the rustling scales in strings
and wind, and the bristling inner figurations
of the middle string parts, are despatched
with infectious verve and exhilaration.
The delicacy of the dynamic range is
slightly compromised, the p and pp not
quite so low here as achieved in other
similarly marked passages. This performance
does bring out well the passages in
unexpected and distantly related keys
with humour and varied timbre, although
an occasionally sharp flute can be discerned
in the lower register, in the effort
to be push through and be heard. The
brisk ending brings this challenging
music to a rousing conclusion: if Mozart
had indeed intended this to be a riposte
to Haydn's 6 Parisian symphonies (the
first three of which share the same
keys as Mozart's last three great symphonies)
or indeed, as the sleeve note suggests,
Kozeluh's latest three symphonies, there
is plenty of French style and original
thinking here amply borne out in this
perceptive account.
Symphonies 40/41 [74.03]
7 4509-97490-2
40 - Is there more
to be said on Mozart's last two great
symphonies? - indeed so, as the faster-than-usual
first movement Allegro molto of the
G minor immediately demonstrates. Although
having set off at a fair canter, the
reins are held slightly at the end of
the first subject group, and a more
settled and more conventional, but still
brisk, gear is engaged, only to enjoy
a further hint of dash before the repeat
is made. Such tempo shifts are handled
naturally by conductor and players,
and do serve to point up the tempestuous
invention, although the second statement
has more cohesion and consistency and
loses nothing in impact - in fact, it
sets up well the brilliantly daring
development section in which the players
make the most of the harmonic sequences
to display their involvement in the
creative process. Later there are further
pushing passages - urgent and determined
to get on, and more tenuto sections,
especially where wider melodic leaps
are negotiated more deliberately. Just
occasionally the endings of notes and
phrases can appear slightly too sudden
for perfectly controlled shaping, but
the raw energy of such moment may well
be all part of the vision of unleashed
natural power.
Also brisk is the andante,
aiming for two dotted crotchet pulses
per bar rather than a more stately six
quavers, and faring generally well by
this decision: some of the demisemiquaver
figures slightly lose their precise
poise, and the possible refinement and
dignified grace this movement can convey
is sacrificed in a continuing search
for rhythmic momentum. The tempo works
perfectly for the minor key second section,
where the almost hammering repeated
quavers of the tutti are violently contrasted
with the yearning plangency of the violins.
The onward movement also masks some
of the more delicious overlapping moments
between orchestral colours and melodic
motifs, but it serves admirably for
the gorgeously toned loud, sustained,
chromatically winding, wind chords reminiscent
of the serenade writing in the last
eight bars of each section; and the
written hemiolas benefit from this flowing
pulse, creating brief but uplifting
moments of rhythmic confusion.
Mozart's predilection
for hemiola patterns in the faster Menuettos
of his later works encourages a fast
but not too fast tempo here, and this
enables a lively well-poised spring
to inflect each motif - this music surely
gave Schubert a nudge when he created
the scherzo in his fifth symphony, and
here the delicate soft ending of the
Menuetto provides a perfect balance
to the gritty opening; the Trio is refined
and slower, and reveals the wind players
in excellent interplay with the strings,
matching the shapely arches idiomatically.
The soft levels here
are finely done - well restrained, the
better to energise the louder contrasts,
but also creating both mystery and tension
in effect, whilst also setting up the
potential for dramatic modulations and
transitions, which of course will take
place in the renowned development section.
This movement holds to a more stable,
yet running, pulse, until the first
few bars of the development when that
urgent push takes over once more - it
is undeniably exciting to feel driven,
but within the framework of such finely
controlled work elsewhere, and where
a rigid pulse can hold all the other
musical elements in balance it seems
a touch gratuitous and unnecessary.
Were there more use of tempo fluctuation
to specific expressive effect, used
as often say as dynamic or accent variation,
then there would be a clear purpose.
Oddly, the repeat of this section does
not convey the same hurrying, and works
much better for the unexpected unison
notes - still surprising after we've
grown familiar with the almost serial-technique
gesture of passing through almost every
chromatic pitch and after we've already
heard Mozart's first statement of this
remarkable passage: this surpise has
more impact at a well-held tempo. The
stormy work concludes still raging wildly,
providing a cohesive account of the
full four-movement dramatic and symphonic
form, one of the first conceived on
this larger scale.
41 - Unusually, given
Harnoncourt's earlier symphonies in
this set, the tempo marking Allegro
vivace does not move him to exceed a
fairly moderate and stately 4/4, which
enables the traditionally festive C
major to ring full and proud. This performance
is distinctly unwilling to let rip in
rhythmic momentum, preferring to take
its time over the short melodic fragments
which are used obsessively to construct
longer passages, rather as Beethoven
also would manage later: of particularly
wonderful significance are the soft
slurred second subject violin phrases
in octaves, perfectly toned and tuned
in ensemble, and providing a heavenly
sweetness to contrast with the godlike
grandeur of the pillars of tutti dotted
rhythms. Wind players make full use
of their falling scale features to colour
and guide the development through its
various turns, resolving into a neatly
articulated recapitulation, where the
harmonic surprises are graciously pointed
out and pointed up by the strings' dovetailing
lines, before the dramatic shift to
the beloved Neapolitan relationship,
D flat major, which is powerfully placed
after a well-extended rest. The movement
ends with a sense of security and rightness,
and the solidity and apparent simplicity
of this unequivocal C major sets the
scene for the harmonic and chromatic
magic of the Andante cantabile.
The muted string opening
is tenderly given, and the velvety tone
of the Concertgebouw strings, however
modern sounding, seems right in this
context and with this judicious control.
Much excellent colour and stress is
added to the enormous number of lower
semitone appoggiaturas in this adventurous
writing - both in the nervous violin
triplets as in the more extended melodic
bends. Perhaps more could have been
made of the wind's minor and diminished
block chords to create a more characterful
colour and a more prominent bite in
the way these chords grind against the
pedal points; but just a few bars later
there is a unique and magical effect
of sustained rising wind chromatic crotchets
against hushed strings where the firsts'
syncopated arpeggios are so quiet as
to be only just audible - a brilliantly
astute effect. This movement's constant
changes of rhythmic division - triplet
semis, demisemis, semis - and varied
staccato and slurred patterns within
lead the way to the greater still third
movement of Beethoven's Ninth: these
players recognise the connection and
play with a nod to the future as well
as to the past.
A well-observed Allegretto
for the Menuetto provides a gently-paced,
constantly lilting quasi-laendler, but
with more variety in phrase-lengths,
supporting repeated chords, and articulation
than would usually be encountered in
just a simple country dance; without
reaching bacchanalian excess, there
is a mildly oiled response to the bucolic
potential, but these countryfolk won't
allow themselves to get even mildly
intoxicated. The Trio is even more graceful
and just a little steadier, allowing
for delicately placed phrasing from
oboe and firsts in particular. This
restrained version's intent enables
the movement to feel longer than it
might and so balance better the stronger,
longer outer movements - it also allows
the last movement to begin with immediately
a gutsier and more ebullient gesture
in the first tutti, prefaced by a disarmingly
coy soft opening. The rhythmic definition
is very fine throughout this brilliantly
virtuosic account, with all moving parts
ideally balanced in their contrapuntal
patterns. The occasional additional
crescendi on building phrases and repeated
units are entirely appropriate and add
enormously to the invigorating effect.
Particularly stirring, this movement's
performance is one of the jewels in
the series, with a recorded sound which
enables all the varying and important
features and strands of the counterpoint
to be clearly appreciated and heard
in an ideal hierarchy: the gathering
impetus towards the inevitable conclusion
and the final statements of the simplest
of four-note motifs is irresistibly
rewarding and satisfying.
Harking back to the
past, to church music, Bachian fugues,
to Vivaldi ritornelli, yet entirely
new in its vital forward momentum through
all elements, this stirring and remarkable
writing provides a fitting conclusion
both to Mozart's great symphonic output
and to this outstanding series of recordings
by the acutely perceptive and original
Harnoncourt and the minutely responsive
Concertgebouw, marrying the best of
modern orchestral sound with historically
aware interpretation.
Colin Touchin
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Nikolaus
Harnoncourt