One grows accustomed to approaching the `last’ works of an artist with an aging master in mind, perhaps resting just a bit on laurels accrued over a lifetime of meritorious productivity. Not so with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of those giants who was taken early from his craft. Perhaps, from an aesthetic point of view, an early demise was not purely tragic. Given what we think we know of Mozart, a long life might have represented endless artistic decline. He died at something close to the apex of his trajectory.
Trust Sir Neville Mariner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields to handle Mozart–whether early, middling, or late–with brio. Then add the economy and technical excellence of Philips and its ‘Duo’ series to the value inherent already in the great composer and one of the twentieth century’s finest houses for Baroque and Classical music. The result is a two-disc recording of unsurpassable value.
A basement flood has made my cd liner impossible to open. But the music has survived, perhaps an apt metaphor for the enduring power of Mozart’s way with a pen.
This line-up of symphonies 36, 38, 39, 40, and 41, recorded in 1971, 1979, and, 1980 is an anthology of jubilant music. The `missing’ symphony no. 37 is now believed to belong rather to Michael Haydn.
It may go without saying by now that the Philips Duo series is a novice listener’s dream, collecting as it does venerable performances under a thematic and/or authorial rubric. I suppose the bean-counters at Philips are also happy with the revenue stream produced without new performances, a marketing ploy that deserves kudos. In other words, another 360-degree, high-value offering here. Don’t hesitate.
Leave a comment