Mozart

[Gurn Blanston]

I've just finished all 29 pages from http://www.talkclassical.com/1697-controversy-over-true-musical.html and my eyeballs are spinning...! (I got the address from a post in your link Opus106)

I see no reason for locking the thread, though. A couple of members could have been warned and then blocked from the thread which was not inflammatory in itself. Only from p10 or so when a Manuel entered with blazing guns did things start to go awry.

Anyhoo, I still love Wolfie's stuff, regardless of who wrote what.

No, you don't see a reason, because all of the inflammatory posts, pages of them, are now languishing in digital limbo, destined to never see the light of day again. What remains is merely enough to get a flavor for the nature of the arguments.

You give Newman far too much credit even if you only casually mean what I bolded above. The argument is totally specious, without a shred of supporting evidence. I can make assertions all day long and avoid showing you any proof, and it means little or nothing in the real world. It is, in fact, a slap in the face to anyone with the smallest reverence for accurate history.

[huntsman]

Morning Gurn -

I'm totally new to classical music and know less than nothing about the composers, works, or even orchestral positions, and I joined this forum to expand that knowledge wherever it takes me.

I found that Newman thread to be, for the most part, very interesting. Period.

What was even more interesting for me on this particular thread were the links kindly supplied by fellow members to other threads on GMG which I'm sure will add mightily to my scant knowledge of WAM.

[Opus106]

Morning Gurn -

I'm totally new to classical music and know less than nothing about the composers, works, or even orchestral positions, and I joined this forum to expand that knowledge wherever it takes me.

I found that Newman thread to be, for the most part, very interesting. Period.

What was even more interesting for me on this particular thread were the links kindly supplied by fellow members to other threads on GMG which I'm sure will add mightily to my scant knowledge of WAM.

There are a couple of documentaries (available on YouTube, for instance) which you can watch to learn more about him. These by no means will offer you a complete picture of the composer or of his oeuvre (and sometimes offer statements which are out-of-date or inaccurate) but nevertheless will give you an idea of his life and times.

Search for the Mozart episode from the BBC series "Great Composers", and another three-part BBC Documentary of the name "The Genius of Mozart", hosted by Charles Hazelwood. The second one is dramatised in parts. (And both series include programmes about a few other composers as well.)

[huntsman]

Great -

Thanks, Navneeth! 

[Karl Henning]

Watch it!

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[North Star]

Watch it!

+1, this is a great documentary.

[SonicMan46]

Another 'thumbs up' for the Mozart documentary - also bought the one on Haydn - but have not seen the Beethoven, but just noticed that I can watch it for free w/ Amazon Prime! -

[HIPster]

Thank you Karl for the "In Search Of Mozart" link to amazon!

Dave - I'm with you; will watch this series on Prime in the very near future.

[huntsman]

I've not heard of Amazon Prime, but it sounds like a good idea if you can watch these movies for free! 

[Bogey]

Do any of you other Wolfie fans find these old chamber Philips recordings as wonderful as I do? 



I have a small run on the shelf from ASMF Chamber Ensemble.  They were my first exposure to Wolfie's chamber music, so always a pleasure to revisit.

[Wakefield]

Nice, isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/v/hlOcgxYT_CU

More on YouTube.

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find recordings by the Ensemble Agláia out of Italy. 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Do any of you other Wolfie fans find these old chamber Philips recordings as wonderful as I do? 



I have a small run on the shelf from ASMF Chamber Ensemble.  They were my first exposure to Wolfie's chamber music, so always a pleasure to revisit.

I have four or five discs from that ASMF series, Bill. I agree they're a joy all around.

One of my culling nightmares was the box of wind divertimenti from the Philips Complete Mozart Edition that I let go a few years ago featuring the ASMF ensemble. It was one of those head-slapping "what was I thinking" episodes that I vowed never to repeat.

But I certainly enjoyed the time I had with the box.

[Octave]

Do any of you other Wolfie fans find these old chamber Philips recordings as wonderful as I do? 

I have a small run on the shelf from ASMF Chamber Ensemble.  They were my first exposure to Wolfie's chamber music, so always a pleasure to revisit.

+1!  I came to these in that 11cd installment of the Philips COMPLETE edition that DD mentioned.  I'm newer to the Mozart cult than most of you, but I think no number of marvelous recordings of these pieces (HIP and otherwise) will blunt the lightness, charm, and flight of these recordings.

[HIPster]

Nice, isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/v/hlOcgxYT_CU

More on YouTube.

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find recordings by the Ensemble Agláia out of Italy. 

Very nice!

Thank you, Gordon.

[Wakefield]

Very nice!

Thank you, Gordon.

You're welcome, HIPster! 

These guys of the Ensemble Agláia and their director the violinist Cinzia Barbagelata deserve some promotion.

[Bogey]

Do any of you other Wolfie fans find these old chamber Philips recordings as wonderful as I do? 



I have a small run on the shelf from ASMF Chamber Ensemble.  They were my first exposure to Wolfie's chamber music, so always a pleasure to revisit.

Now playing:



Note how St. Martin-in-the Fields has been omitted from this disc.  The only difference in make up of ensemble is that Denis Vigay plays the violoncello and Raymund Koster the double bass, while on this disc Vigay is absent and Grahm Sheen adds the bassoon touch.  i find their playing seamless.

[Bogey]

I have four or five discs from that ASMF series, Bill. I agree they're a joy all around.

One of my culling nightmares was the box of wind divertimenti from the Philips Complete Mozart Edition that I let go a few years ago featuring the ASMF ensemble. It was one of those head-slapping "what was I thinking" episodes that I vowed never to repeat.

But I certainly enjoyed the time I had with the box.

Those boxes are prized at this end as well....the few I have.

[Octave]

QUESTION #1:
Apropos the mention of the ASMF collection, I'd like to get some recommendations for recordings of the Serenade for Winds No. 10 in B flat major, K361 (370a) "Gran Partita".  I'm fan-tod raving for it, but I only know a small handful of recordings, including:
1. Furtwängler w/Vienna Phil soloists (~12/1947)...from the Membran megalith, vouchsafed probably not the best available transfer; I love this performance, so I might need to invest in the Naxos Historical or another, more loving transfer.
2. Collegium Aureum (from the DHM/Sony MOZART EDITION box, and my only HIP version)
3. Mehta w/Berliner Phil soloists (Sony) [now only 'new' as a burn-to-order CDR?]
4. De Waart w/Netherlands Wind Ensemble (Philips)
5. Marriner/ASMF (Philips, from the Divertimenti/Serenades for Winds installment of their 'Complete' edition)

Please someone re-direct me if this has been gone over and over and over already; I did a little bit of searching.  Already mentioned recently (in the Listening thread) was the HIP Eric Hoeprich w/Nachtmusique on Glossa (which Que likes and Mandryka is more ambivalent about).  Any suggestions would be appreciated, not just HIP.

As an aside, I am already interested in Herreweghe; Eric Baude w/Ensemble Philidor (Calliope); Harnoncourt; Richard Edlinger w/German Wind Soloists (Naxos); Mackerras; Orpheus CO; Boulez; Klemperer/London (EMI).  And these just the ones I've heard a little about and/or sampled a tiny bit of!  It's out of hand.  There's something about the instrumentation that excites me before anyone starts playing.

QUESTION #2:
The Harnoncourt Gran Partita on Teldec/Warner is of great interest, but seems to be entirely OOP and rather expesnive, save this 250th Anniversary installment, which is not dirt cheap, altogether, and makes me buy a lot of stuff I was not necessarily wanting.  Can anyone vouch for the other stuff in this box?  I think I already have all the Alban Berg Quartett recordings, which dents the value of the box a bit.
It might be better to cross my fingers and hope for a cheap used copy of the GP, or an Apex reissue, etc.  Fat lot of luck!

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A Musicweb review of this set with full info including legible personnel, disc by disc:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Dec05/Mozart_Chamber_256462335-2.htm

[Que]

Like I stated on the listening thread, this is the one I would recommend:

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I would choose it over: the Netherlands wind ensemble, Brüggen, Ensemble Zefiro and Ensemble Philidor (Calliope).

Of those Brüggen and Ensemble Philidor would be the most eligible for comparison IMO.

Q

[jlaurson]

I have nothing even approaching a discographic or 'library-building' amount of Gran Partitas under my belt, so any recommendations are in lieu of vast experience-lacunae and I can't make any pseudo-definitive claims of which I am so fond in many another bit of repertoire.    Still, it might help in some small way:

If you want to avert overt sentimentality, true to stereotype, Pierre Boulez delivers and delivers (given the parameters) very well:

Boulez

Kloecker & Consortium Classicum (MDG):

Kloecker & Co.

De Waart is an old classic that I find is overrated. Similarish, but holding up better is the Mehta/BPh version... which was, however, my first Gran Partita and may hold some 'first-exposure' sway on me that I'm unaware but potentially suspect to. If you get a used copy, you'll get the original rather than the CDR. I'd certainly do that, if you wanted that particular version.

Mehta

Barthold Kuijken and Octophorus on Accent are very lively and never make you aware of how the piece is really too long by ten, fifteen minutes.

Kuijken & Co.

I have not at hand, but positive memory-associations of the spunky, edge-of-the-seat, occasionally imperfect Marlboro Festival release
Marlboro