Lean Mozart from "the Right hand of Toscanini"
Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 05/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Erich Leinsdorf is best known in the United States from his RCA recordings of Romantic and 20th century repertoire with the Boston Symphony from the 1960s, but he also recorded - here released anew by Universal - the first integral cycle of Mozart's Symphonies in the late 1950s with the "Philharmonic Symphony of London", actually Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic under a different name.
Leinsdorf served as an assistant to Toscanini in the late 1930s (he was in his 20s then) and became known as "The Right hand of Toscanini" as a nick-name. Leinsdorf also emphasizes the Classical, the linearity and lightness of Mozart: here Toscanini's influence can be heard, in contrast to the more Romantic Bruno Walter, Karl Bohm, of Otto Klemperer.
Leinsdorf and the RPO play with fast tempos in Allegro movements especially, and the sound, though clear and up front, is rather dry. Sometimes the woodwinds may seem a bit sloppy in articulation - the bassoon solo in Symphony 3: III, is one prime example, but the overall result is very musical, graceful, and well: Mozartean. Repeats are almost never taken, even in 1st movement Allegros which are in Sonata-Allegro form: the custom of the mid-late 1950s when these recordings were made in London.
Leinsdorf SERVES Mozart here. If you are a fan of Toscanini or George Szell, and their Mozart, wishing for an integral recording of the Symphonies by then, this is as close as you will be able to get.
Symphonies 1-20 are in stereo; 21-41 are mono. The mono sound is very clear and not congested, and I enjoyed the mono recordings as much as the stereo ones.
I can recommend Leinsdorf, but would also advise supplementing these with the complete Mozart Symphonies by Karl Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic (DG, 10 CD set) which sets the standard. The Bohm/Berlin are all stereo, recorded 1960-69, and sound as good or better than many digital recordings made in the 1990s and 2000 decade."
Superb Remastering of Pioneering Mozart Cycle
T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 02/16/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Erich Leinsdorf's Westminster Mozart symphony cycle was recorded in London to celebrate the 1956 Mozart birth bicentennial. It presents the old Breitkopf and Haertel-numbered symphonies: 41, including a few that are now known to have been written by Mozart's Papa Leopold and one (No. 37) mostly written by Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael. (Mozart contributed an introduction section to augment Michael's first movement.) Contemporary Mozart scholarship rejects these spurious symphonies, but also has identified more than 50 symphonies actually written by Wolfgang Amadeus. Most of these symphonies are early works, but by no means inconsequential. In other words, if you're looking for a truly complete cycle of Mozart's symphonies, Leinsdorf's pioneering venture can't compete with more modern CD productions, by conductors like Jeffrey Tate and Christopher Hogwood among others. These more modern recordings also provide more vibrantly articulated performances. Although admirably crisp and briskly scanned, Leinsdorf's performances strike me as just a tad too dry and metronomic. I enjoy them nevertheless, but I honestly can't recommend them in preference to the newer cycles I've already mentioned, or even in preference to Karl Boehm's more traditional DG cycle, most of which was recorded in the late 1960s. But Leinsdorf's more muscular, no-frills performances do have their merits, and DG's remastering of the original 1950s Westminster mono recordings is a vast improvement over the previous issue (ca. 1985) on MCA. So if you want your Mozart conducted briskly and to the point and you are looking for the best remastering of Leinsdorf's now half century (!) old Mozart cycle, this is it!"
Leinsdorf's Mozart is beautifully crafted
N. Streetman | 04/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Conductor Erich Leinsdorf's recordings of these symphonies are superlative. Haven't heard all yet, but the major ones are precise, well-balanced, and very musical and moving."
Track Listings (41) - Disc #1