Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Barry Wordsworth, Nicholas Ward :: Mozart: The Complete Symphonies [Box Set]

Mozart's Complete Symphonies (plus a few he didn't write)

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This box of 11 CDs contains all the known symphonies written by Mozart, except for the only recently (1983) discovered very early symphony in A Minor, the so-called 'Odense' Symphony, and for lagniappe includes a couple that were written by others but which had for most of two centuries been thought to be by Mozart; certainly without a guidebook I would not have known which were the ringers. The performances are divided between Nicholas Ward leading the Northern Chamber Orchestra (based in Manchester) in mostly early symphonies (up to No. 26, but also including No. 37 which was actually written by Michael Haydn, Joseph Haydn's younger brother), and Barry Wordsworth leading the Capella Istropolitana (based in Bratislava, Slovakia) in the later symphonies.Foolishly I had over many years neglected Mozart's earlier works, thinking, as many do, that they were immature and not worth bothering with. It was only when I heard a performance by the American String Quartet of some of the early quartets (including the remarkably lovely Quartet in F, K. 168) I began to rethink my position. And I must say that this curiosity has been amply repaid by this super-budget box of all Mozart's symphonies. Just listen, for instance, to the very first symphony, K. 16, and in particular the lovely Andante movement, and you'll hear 'Mozartean' turns of phrase and harmonies; I would never suggest that this is 'immature' or 'schoolboy' music even in spite of the fact that Mozart wrote it when he was only eight! The other early symphonies deserve slow scrutiny in order to discover similar felicities. The 'late' symphonies - those are generally considered to begin with the marvelous No. 29 in A, K. 201 - are given absolutely competitive performances by Wordsworth and his Slovakian musicians. I particularly liked their fleet but solid performances of that miraculous set of three, Nos. 39, 40 and 41, which ended Mozart's symphonic career in a final burst of compositional genius. My own favorite of all the Mozart symphonies is No. 35, the 'Haffner,' K. 385, and it is given as good a performance as I've ever heard of it. I have owned other recordings by both these orchestras and conductors and thought I knew what to expect. I was, however, notably surprised by how specially alert and alive these recordings are. They are crisply and sweetly played with a verve that sounds for all the world like they are live performances. Indeed, I learned that although they are not recordings of concert performances, they were recorded in several bursts of intense work by both orchestras and conductors and one can hear the slight edginess of that sort of situation, not in the sense of edgy tone, but in the sense of the players sitting on the edges of their chairs with all their senses engaged. In a word, these performances are superb, and now that I've made their acquaintance I can assert that many Mozart lovers would pay full price for them. Fortunately they don't have to.The set comes in a sturdy white cardboard box with the eleven CDs in individual paper sleeves. The booklet (in English only) contains Keith Anderson's knowledgeable but rather brief notes on each symphony. One further word: these are modern instrument performances. I am one of that frankly antediluvian sort who prefers classical and galant repertoire be played on modern instruments but with a certain amount of authentic performance practice; that's what we have here and I say 'Hurrah for that!' When you take into consideration the really quite remarkable price being asked for this set, I can't imagine why anyone would balk. TT=10hrs, 59minsScott Morrison"

A great bargain box of Mozart Symphonies

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 08/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Naxos' release of the complete Symphonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is a great bargain box. The recordings of the earlier symphonies, 1-24,26,37 are by the Northern Chamber Orchestra (Manchester, England) conducted by Nicholas Ward and the later symphonies: 25, 27-41, are by the Bratislava, Slovakia orchestra Capella Istropolitana, conducted by Barry Wordsworth. Ward's recordings date from the early 1990s; Wordsworth's from the late 1980s. All are digital sound, and well recorded. The Northern Chamber Orchestra has about 25 players, but doesn't sound thin or scrawny - they use modern instruments, and Naxos does a great recording job. The Cappella Istropolitana is also well recorded, and sounds larger than the Northern Chamber orchestra: perhaps about 50 players?



Wordsworth's recordings suffer more from comparison with big name conductors of the past (and not so distant past) such as Beecham, Walter, Bohm, Szell, Klemperer, Kubelik, Krips, Kertesz, and Bernstein. Competition is fierce in Mozart Symphonies 35 and after, as almost all the great conductors have recorded them, rather like the Beethoven or Brahms Symphonies. But Wordsworth's accounts are respectable, if not always the best: 35 and 39 are very good, the others quite good. My only complaint is that in some movements Wordsworth could have repeated the exposition section, as I'm all ready to hear it again (some listeners will not agree). And some Allegro movements are a little pokey. The Capella Istropolitana's strings, I think viola section, is shaky in II of Symphony 34. But I am nit-picking: these are really quite good performances, and the price is right!



My favorite Mozart Symphonies are recordings of Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic (DG), Krips/Concertgebouw (Philips, Symphonies 21-41, with Marriner/St. Martins for 1-20), Bruno Walter/New York Philharmonic (25,28,29,35,36,38-41: Sony), and Szell/Cleveland (35,39,40,41), and I'm glad to hear Naxos' production, too."