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Mozart for
Kids
Leopold MOZART(1719–1787)
Toy Symphony [10:55] Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791) Die
Zauberflöte: 4 excerpts K620 [10:01]
Alla turca from Piano Sonata No.11 in A, K331 [3:39]
Finale from Horn Concerto No.4 in Eb, K495 [3:20]
Overture: The Abduction from the Seraglio [6:39]
The Queen of 1001 Nights (Queen of the Night Aria) [3:33]
O, du lieber Augustin [2:36]
Finale from Oboe Concerto in C, K271 (sic) [4:37]
Rondo in D, K485 [5:50]
Minuet from Symphony No.39 in E flat, K543 [4:12]
Finale from Flute Concerto No.1 in G, K313 [6:51] Leopold MOZART: second
movement from Trumpet Concerto in D [5:27]
Philharmonia
Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan (Toy Symphony)
Andreas Schmidt,
Guy de Mey, Dawn Upshaw, Catherine Pierard,
Tessa Bonner, Evelyn Tubb, Caroline Trevor, London Classical
Players, Roger Norrington (K543 & K620)
Christian Zacharias
(K331)
The Swingle Singers (K495), Francois Leleux (oboe),
David Guerrier (trumpet), Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John
Nelson (K271 and Trumpet Concerto)
Alexander Lonquich (piano)
(K485)
Alain Marion (flute), Orchestre d’Auvergne/Jean–Jacques
Kantorow (K313)
re–issues from various recordings: rec. 1958-2005. ADD VIRGIN
CLASSICS 2361382 [70:21]
This isn’t Wolfgang
for kids, more the Wolf Gang for Kids. That’s the level this
disk is aiming at. And I wonder if this will really get children
listening to Mozart because it’s all very pretty, with no
real meat, and it’s so perfect. In my experience, children
respond to something much more abstract – such as Stravinsky
(have you ever seen the excitement in a youthful audience
when The Infernal Dance of the Subjects of King Kaschei is
played? – especially if you’ve just told them that ballet
music is always very quiet and they must listen very carefully),
or even Varèse’s Poème électronique where
there’s nothing to look at; that really gets them thinking.
The jokes in
the Toy Symphony are so weak as to be boring. There’s
nothing in this piece to get the blood racing. Two excerpts
from Zauberflöte would
have been better. The famous Rondo alla turca is given
by lovely performance by Zacharias until the percussion section
enters and as for the Swingle Singers arrangement of the
famous finale from the 4th Horn Concerto I
am wondering what any children will think should they be
sufficiently intrigued to seek out the original versions.
The Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio has
added, and continuous, oriental percussion, which is given
cadenzas and a prelude and postlude which also includes Muezzin
wailing. It’s followed by the Queen of the Night Aria
which sounds as if it’s been re–arranged for a Bollywood
film. I’d expect to hear something like this as muzak in
my local curry house. O, du lieber Augustin is absolutely
delightful, as is the finale from the Oboe Concerto,
which is actually K314 not K271 as advertised – that’s the 9th Piano
Concerto. This bit of poor editing seems to me to be
redolent of this compilation – it’s slipshod and insulting
to its intended audience. Alexander Lonquich’s performance
of the Rondo in D is lovely and unaffected. The minuet
from the 39th Symphony is severe and hard
pressed.
If this is really
supposed to an introduction to Mozart for Kids why didn’t
Virgin give us Mozart without additions? I feel that Mozart
has been done a grave mis–service here. Where’s Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik? The first movement of the Piano Sonata,
K545? A proper version of the Queen of the Night Aria? The
first movement of the 40th Symphony? The
Turkish finale from the 5th Violin Concerto?
The minuet from the 41st Symphony, if only
for its associations with the Wombles? The first movement
of K488.
Am I being churlish?
No, I don’t think I am. This is a poor compilation, badly
thought out and poorly presented. It’s difficult at the best
of times to get kids to listen to classical music in the
privacy of their own homes – at concerts things are different – and
treating them as intelligent young people rather than talking
down to them is a much better path to take. I would recommend
all parents wishing to interest their children in classical
music to try something more modern to start with, something
dynamic such as the Stravinsky already mentioned, and work
backwards into more cerebral music.
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