Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Szell, Louis Lane :: George Szell Plays and Conducts Mozart [Box Set]

Astonishing remasterings, what a difference!!

SwissDave | Switzerland | 02/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll admit it, my ideal in Mozart conducting is lively, detail-oriented, uplifting, anti-soggy - e.g. Peter Maag, his earlier London recordings especially (or sidereal moments in recorded history like Erich Kleiber's Figaro). Even so, Szell's Mozart doesn't strike me as charmless (find a copy of his 1970 Tokyo concert, and you'll come to the conclusion the man was apparently in control of everything, high spirited music-making included if it pleased him - even the more striking perhaps realizing he was then already terminally ill, and aware of it).



I recently happend upon a sealed copy of this box in a leftovers bin in a local store. I had contemplated it (dallied over on my wish list) for years, and could now kick myself for not having bought it earlier. These new remasterings make these recordings sound so much better!! God, how I hated Leon Fleisher's flinty piano tone on the earlier CD releases! Those who've heard him live (or own early pressings of the original LPs - which these CD remasterings surpass sonically speaking, however) know better than to accept those early remasterings for gospel - lo and behold, here he is, back in splendid sonority. Wow! The same is true of all the stereo recordings, by the way. Seriously, there literally IS unheard-of interpretive depth coming to the fore in these latest remastering (sound IS music to great extent!), and the mono items all sound very acceptable.



All right, I paid next to nothing for my copy of this set, but let's see what the truly indispensable amounts to here: some of, possibly the greatest recordings of Symphonies Nos. 35 "Haffner", 39 (the earlier 1947 interpretation of Symphony No. 39 actually strikes me as livelier, more spontaneous, despite similar track timings a true alternative to the acclaimed stereo remake), 40 (like Szell's 1970 Tokyo live version as much or better, though) and 41 "Jupiter"; one of the finest, perhaps still my favourite interpretation/recording of the Piano Concerto No. 25 (especially now that one is finally able to appreciate the subtleties and sonic splendor of the great piano playing, too, adding life, lift and sparkle to Szell's wondrously stern reading); one of the finest recordings each of the "Kleine Nachtmusik" and "Posthorn" (also check out Maag's!) Serenades. Apart from these, I'm not sure I want nor need a better recording of the Serenade for Winds and Orchestra K.131, nor Louis Lane's K.334 Divertimento, if they exist (I wouldn't know). There's still more, but these recordings alone would have justified the (full!) price of admission - what the heck was I thinking postponing this all these years, nearly missing this release?! (Right, I already owned so much of what's contained here and wasn't aware the improved sound quality would make so much of a difference - audiophile not least, but musically, even interpretatively, but given the latest - the ones held in orange - reissues from Sony's Great Performances series, I could have guessed.)



Symphonies Nos. 28 and 33 again have to compete with Maag (old and new), although in the former the recording/sound quality and orchestral (ensemble) playing are so much in Szell's favour that minor interpretive pluses and minuses in such (less popular, let's face it) repertoire will do little to tip the scale. Everything else here, such as the earlier 1955 mono versions of Symphonies Nos. 40 and 41, is just a bonus. True, the fairly good (nothing here is less than that) Clarinet Concerto (with Marcellus) can't hold a candle to Maag's (with Gervase de Peyer) 1959 reference version, and I obviously prefer Oistrakh father and son's Sinfonia Concertante (both 1963 and 1972) to the (again, rather impressive) recording here with Druian and Skernick. To hear Szell at the piano, partnering concertmaster Druian in some Violin Sonatas, and with members of the Budapest String Quartet in two Piano Quartets, is more than just academic pleasure, by the way - you'll risk being impressed, just like me. Of course there is Shaw's "Lacrimosa" that makes me fall asleep (do yourself a favour and find a copy of Scherchen's complete Requiem!), and Leinsdorf's Minuet K.409 - well, who cares? The set's a bargain!



Greetings from Switzerland, David."

SUBLIMELY BRILLIANT!

L'escribe | ohio USA | 09/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first purchased this set some years ago in old standard 33 1/3 record format, it was a 7 or 8 record set as I recall. Well, I played these into the ground, had to relinquish them to the dustbin in donation to a thrift store. I largely forgot this Szell Mozart package had existed until coming across it now on Amazon. Of course, I shall purchase it! There is nothing that remains to be said in reference to this spectacular set. George Szell was and remains the foremost interpreter of Mozart in this century. I was honored to have met him shortly before his death in 1970, in Cleveland, as a fledgling musician and pianist, at one of the Cleveland Orchestra's afternoon concerts for youth. My career as a musician stems from that meeting. His standards of excellence and musical integrity are unequalled today. One hears the beauty of his Mozart in these recordings and recalls his brilliance. This set is a tribute not only to his musicianship, but also the calibre of musicians with which he chose to record these magnificent works. This set is a work of art. One cringes when listening to some of the interpretations of Mozart by musicians in today's generation. They should be forced to listen to these recordings exclusively as a tutorial of how to do Mozart. I recall one of my teacher's stating that Mozart should be played almost effortlessly, not as "ducks sitting on an oil slick" as some continue to do without regret! Purchase this set to hear how it should be done."