Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yakov Kreizberg, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra :: Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante [Hybrid SACD]

It Does Not Go to the Head of the Class

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 11/21/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Much as I like the playing of Julia Fischer and much as I've liked her previous CDs conducted by her frequent colleague Yakov Kreizberg, I am not thrilled with this issue. It is generally OK, but the competition is stiff and further there are some drawbacks to this recording. First, one has to comment that Kreizberg has a couple of problems with his notion of how the Sinfonia Concertante should go. He does some unusual things as regards tempi and transitions, mostly making the piece sound like it was written in the Romantic era. The rich, reverberant ambiance of Haarlem's Doopsgezinde Kirk makes the orchestra sound a bit larger than one generally expects in Classical Era music although one assumes that its numbers are probably appropriate for Mozart and that it's the acoustic that is to blame. But worse is the recurrent feeling much of the time that Kreizberg is more or less on autopilot. The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra play brilliantly so I'm assuming that the problem is with Kreizberg, not them. Second, although the sound on this hybrid SACD is generally pretty good, the soloists are just a bit recessed. Perhaps that is a truer sound but there are times when passagework gets lost in the body of orchestral sound.



Finally, I don't find Fischer and her viola/violin co-soloist, Gordan Nikolic, to be well-matched. Fischer is her usual suave, alert, elegant self; Nikolic's viola tone (but also that of his violin in the Concertone) is skinnier, and even inelegant in spots.



When one mentally compares this recording of the Sinfonia concertante with the relatively recent recordings of, say, Anna Sophie Mutter and Yuri Bashmet, or Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, or even Gidon Kremer and Kim Kashkashian, it does not come up to their level.



The Concertone, K190 is a fairly negligible piece and probably no one would consider buying this CD for it or the little Rondo for Violin and Orchestra, K373.



A tepid recommendation, then.



Scott Morrison"

The best sinfonia concertante

concert goer | NYC | 08/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One caveat - I have only heard the recording on a car stereo. However, this is a piece I love and know and I have never heard it recorded so well. Like much of Mozart's work the composition itself represents an ideal that reality can scarcely measure up to. But this performance seems to measure up. First of all, the two soloists really agree on the style and sound of the piece. The intonation is perfect. The tempos are lively and never slow down for technically difficult passages. The orchestra features divisi violas that you can actually hear. The first movement, with some of Mozart's richest intellectual content, is fun to listen to - you enjoy it, not admire it. The slow movement, so tragic in its content, is not self-indulgent or maudlin in its performance. The third movement, the "dessert" of this concerto, is brilliantly performed, up to and including the risky arpeggios leading up to four high notes that end the third movement for both soloists. Highly recommended."

Kreizberg, Fischer, Nikolic and Mozart

S. H. Stewart | San Diego, CA | 10/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Competent and entertaining. Excellent sound quality. Kreizberg does Mozart in a sort of romantic way (I first heard him in a Los Angeles Phil program including a Mozart piano concerto; romantic style also). But he does it quire well, one does not mind. Fischer and Nikolic go along with the game plan. A nice disk."