Excellent sound and full-blooded interpretation
David Balarin | Prague, Czech Republic | 11/29/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Well, Abbado latest wandering in Mozart music (these 5 symphonies, violin concertos, The Magic Flute) brings a lot of new and fresh wind into interpretation of Mozart. If I have to make simplification then Abbados's Mozart is 1. very well articulated and 2. dramatic, fully-blooded music. Here in the symphonies he missed something from the lightness and playfulness of period instrument interpretation like this one form Pinnock, but he supplied it with great sound (also thanks to recoding engineers) and with beautiful palette sound color. Abbado interpretation of Jupiter symphony in this recording is one of the best I've ever heard. I also very like Mozart "Prague" symphony (38) and opposite to reviewer Osvaldo I need to have repeats in the first movement in place. Here you get all of them, so the first movement takes over 17 min! and the whole symphony is then even longer than Jupiter. This is rarity for sure! But if you do not listen this music to make quick fulfillment of your musical needs but want to really indulge and "swim" in music, here you can get "drink deep" :)) So just be careful not to choke! :-) ... so if you are open to broader your view how Mozart can sound and be interpreted, do not hesitate and buy this great recording now!"
For Abbado, a puzzling but pleasing change of direction
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/20/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The change I'm referring to is that Abbado, one of the straightest readers of Mozart in the past, has now decided to make it up as he goes along. These five symphonies (29, 33, 35, 38, 41) are all thrice-familiar works, and besides traditional performing style, there is period style, both of which took off from the same fact: Mozart wrote a minimum of expression markings in his scores. Whole movments go by without a tempo change, and bar after bar with no indicaitons except the most basic for dynamics. Mozart leaves everything else up to the conductor. Most don't take this open invitaiton very far, which accounts for a certain sameness from one Mozart recording to the next.
Abbado has picked up the glove and inserts expression and new phrasing in every measure. There are susrprise hesitations, stops, surges, and swells all over the map. It's startling to hear this the first time, as if Bach had been turned into Chopin. I don't know quite how to react. Maybe Mozart left those blank spaces because he didn't want anything new or original. On the other hand, originality is a welcome trait in any musician, and for once in the "Haffner" or "Jupiter" you can't predict what will happen next. Everything is kept within the bounds of taste, naturally, and the overall feeling from Abbado is spirited elegance, not a sudden thrust into the unknown (look to Harnoncourt and Minkowski for that).
The hand-picked Italian orchestra, based in Bologna, represents yet another attempt to raise performance standards after decades of sloppiness among native ensembles. The Orchestra Mozart plays in semi-period style, with little vibrato in the strings but plenty of modern expression -- this sin't sewing-machine Mozart. As the product description informs us, these readings came from live conerts on tour around Italy in 2004-2006. I don't know if Abbado's health was an issue (he cancelled engagements last fall, including a major appearance at Carnegie Hall with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra), but one could wish for a more visceral energy. Sometimes the musicmaking seems a shade prim and breezy.
Abbado had never recorded Sym. 33 and 28 before. I wish the "Prague" and "Jupiter" both sounded bigger in keeping with their more complex, serious ambitions. But at this bargain price, and given Abbado's new-found enthusiasm, I was happy to hear everything on these two CDs."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1