BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Symphony No.32 in G, K318 (1779) [8:56]
Symphony No.35 in D, K385 ‘Haffner’ (1782) [22:49]
Symphony No.36 in C, K425 ‘Linz’ (1783) [37:06]
Symphony No.39 in E-flat, K543 (1788) [28:06]
Symphony No.41 in C, K551 ‘Jupiter’ (1788) [34:01]
Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka Saraste
rec. Glasgow City Hall, June 1987 (CD1); Govan Town Hall, Glasgow, UK, June
1990 (CD2) DDD.
VIRGIN CLASSICS 0963702 [68:58 + 62:07]
These performances have been round the block several times, separately and
together, but they are none the worse for that, especially now that the 2-CD
set is offered at a very attractive super-budget price, typically around £8
in the UK. Don’t even dream of downloading: it will probably cost you
more - I’ve even seen it on offer in mp3 for £15.99! It’s
one of the vagaries of the recording industry that their previous incarnation
was also on one of Virgin’s very inexpensive twofers. The new reissue
is most likely to appeal to Mozart novices, but seasoned collectors with some
or all of these works already in their collections could benefit from adding
this inexpensive set.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra doesn’t play on period instruments, nor
had I thought of Jukka-Pekka Saraste as a Mozartian par excellence, but there’s
a great deal more to authenticity than that. What emerges from the partnership
is a combination of period-informed practice that never becomes fanatic: just
the kind of compromise, in fact, that one associates in this repertoire with
the late and much-missed Charles Mackerras.
There is, indeed, a great deal in common between these performances and the
more recent recordings which Mackerras set down for Linn, also with the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra. Nos. 38-41 are on Linn CKD308 - Recording of the Month:
see review
- and Nos. 29, 31, 32, 35 and 36 on Linn CKD350 - see review.
I liked these recordings very much when I reviewed them in the February
2009 and April
2010 Download Roundups respectively: the second featured as Recording
of the Month. Alas, the third recording that I had hoped for was not to be,
but Mackerras’s earlier versions of the complete Mozart symphonies on
Telarc, available separately, fill the gap. Mackerras is a little faster in
general, but there’s absolutely no lack of liveliness and energy from
Saraste.
Both Saraste and Mackerras have, for instance, the sense of style that Bruno
Walter captured in his late-1950s, early-1960s CBS recordings of the last
six symphonies - formerly available on three LPs and more recently on a 2-CD
set which Sony really ought to reissue. (M2YK45676 -snap it up if you see
a decent second-hand copy)*. What Saraste and Mackerras also offer is a greater
sense of lightness, though I don’t wish to imply that Walter sounds
heavy or slow.
In the first movements Walter often omits repeats, making comparisons difficult,
but the Menuetto of his No.35 is only three seconds slower than Saraste’s
and the finale exactly the same length (4:04). Only in No.41 did I think that
Walter’s omission of repeats made the work sound a little less Jupiter-like
than it ought. Language is insufficient to convey the enjoyment that I still
derive from Walter, from whom I got to know the Haffner and Jupiter,
and the subtlety of the difference between him and the two later interpreters.
To say that I enjoy all three is not intended as a cop-out. It’s not
just nostalgia and the fact that I owned the LPs that takes me back to Walter.
The slow opening of Saraste’s No.39 is as weighty as anything that I’ve
heard, including Walter and Mackerras, so he and the SCO can certainly do
‘big’ Mozart when it’s appropriate. He observes more repeats
than Walter in this movement, as in the Jupiter, thereby preventing
the emphasis from shifting to the andante con moto second movement:
Walter makes the two movements almost exactly equal in length. Saraste and
Mackerras also pay more attention than Walter to the con moto part
of the tempo indication: the CBS notes give the tempo as merely andante,
so perhaps Walter was working from a different edition. Saraste and Mackerras
clock in at slightly over eight minutes for this movement, Walter at 9:11,
yet all three tempi sound perfectly right in context.
More to the point, Saraste and the SCO, in common with the other two, really
sound as if they love the music. Though he adopts a fast speed for the finale
of No.39, it never sounds dutiful or perfunctory and the observation of repeats
gives the movement its due weight - more than a minute longer than Walter
(5:28 against 4:05). Mackerras gives the movement even greater weight at 7:49,
which might look like too much of a good thing were it not for the lightness
and grace which he imparts.
Though Saraste gives power to the first movement of the Jupiter by
observing more repeats than Walter, his skipping tempo never allows it to
sound pompous. For all that I grumble (below) about the paucity of notes with
the Virgin reissue, their description of the ‘ineffable grandeur and
forward momentum’ of this symphony is spot on - and it perfectly describes
Saraste’s recording of the work. All three conductors observe both parts
of the andante cantabile direction for the second movement: here, if
anything, Walter gives a slight degree more cantabile lift to the music
than Saraste or Mackerras: is the latter just slightly too weighty at a minute
longer than Walter or Saraste? Perhaps, but the way that he caresses the music
more than atones.
The presence of Mike Hatch (CD1) and Mike Clements (CD2) as balance engineers
effectively guarantees sound quality that can still hold its own against more
recent releases. Linn’s Mackerras recordings are available in SACD format,
or as better-than-CD 24-bit downloads, thereby increasing their appeal to
hi-fi enthusiasts. I was very happy with the 16-bit CD-quality (WMA) downloads
when I reviewed them. Both Linn sets are offered at less than full price,
effectively 2-for-1.
The notes are skimpy, as usual with these Virgin super-budget twofers. If
Naxos and Hyperion, especially the latter, can offer booklets with detailed
and informative notes in this price-range, why can Virgin not do the same?
I’ve said that these recordings are likely to appeal mostly to beginners
- and they are the very people who need the notes. Even the HMV Concert Classics
recording with André Vandernoot - then one of the least expensive labels
- from which I got to know No.39 had a useful sleeve-note. Later, the even
cheaper Saga and Fontana LPs (10/- [50p] and 12/6 [63p] respectively) managed
to include quite detailed sleeve-notes. We reviewers tend to whack on about
this, but newcomers to classical music do need some help.
I would still name the two Mackerras sets in one form or another as my first
choice and I certainly hope that the Walter stereo recording will be reissued
at a budget price, but there’s very little to choose overall and the
Saraste reissue is too tempting a bargain to resist.
* Arkiv have a 3-CD set with the stereo versions of Nos.35 and 38-41 but with
the earlier mono No.36 and rehearsals (46511).
Brian Wilson
Too tempting a bargain to resist.