"Mistah Klemps" Wins Again! Recommended!!!
10/17/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"An oboist in the New York Philharmonic once addressed the austere German conductor as "Mistah Klemps", and for me, this has always stuck. Despite his formidable demeanor, Klemperer was a wit with a secret cache of good humor, which he unfolds from time to time in these outstanding readings.The Symphonies are in pure, authentic mono mid-fifties sound. The E-Flat is the gem of the disk: one of my all-time favorite interpretations, having a rigorous sense of proportion and detail, and a grandeur not often encountered. Yet there are loving touches, such as the swaggering minuet with a very relaxed, central European trio. Marvelous!The Serenata Notturno is in real stereo, a bit "ripe", dating from c. 1956: the reading is exceptionally cheerful and relaxed, much slower than the run-throughs we often get nowdays from chamber orchestras like Orpheus. Highly recommended to true Mozartians!"