Mozart: Concertante Recording Roundup

 

I listened to a few wind-laden odds and ends from Mozart.



Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297b

While Mozart' Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola might be more popular (BLOG), this earlier work for four winds is special as well.

Add to that this 1966 recording from Karl Böhm with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and we easily have my favorite outing of K. 297.

I really like the fact Karl Leister's clarinet is purer and clearer against the warm woodsiness of the oboe and bassoon. I wish Seifert's horn were placed a little more prominently, however Mozart doesn't give it as much of an active role as the clarinet and oboe, in lieu of being relegated as an ensemble player. This is most true in the final variations movement, but I guess we can't have it all.

As I have mentioned before, I believe Karl Böhm to be an excellent Mozart-ian, pacing the composer's music to eke out as much magic from the score as he can. This is compounded by the presence of the Berlin Philharmonic, who are lush, yet graceful and charming throughout. Their full sound might not be to modern tastes, nor their steadier tempos, but this document shows how both can work wonders.

Why not K. 364 as well? While the 1964 artifact is perfectly fine, I prefer some others. So too, I prefer these with Berlin over Böhm's Vienna performances, also on DG.



Fragment In E-Flat Major
Rondeau In E-Flat Major
Fragment In E Major
Rondo In D Major

As far as I am aware, these four short horn concertante works can only be found on this recording from Naxos.

These ditties aren't going to blow anyone's mind, and the fragments stop short of being complete, yet more horn music from Mozart is always a celebration.

Michael Thompson is a tireless performer of classic and modern concertante and chamber music, often leading from the horn, as he does here with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta.

I probably wouldn't lead anyone here for the very finest of Mozart's horn concertos, where my allegiances lie elsewhere, yet he is pretty inoffensive as that goes.

Yet to hear these miniature jewels, this is where you are going to find them.

 

 

 

Recording Round-up

Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297b
   Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
   Karl Böhm
   DG, 1964-66; 2003

Fragment In E-Flat Major, K. 370b
Rondeau In E-Flat Major, K. 371
Fragment In E Major, K. 494a
Rondo In D Major, K. 514
   Bournemouth Sinfonietta
   Michael Thompson, horn
   Naxos, 1999

 

 

 

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