Mozart Symphonies Nos 34, 39 & 41
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Testament
Magazine Review Date: 3/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 72
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: SBT1093

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 29 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Testament
Magazine Review Date: 3/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: SBT1094

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 38, "Prague" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Symphony No. 39 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Serenade No. 6, "Serenata notturna" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Otto Klemperer, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Testament
Magazine Review Date: 3/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 73
Mastering:
Stereo
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: SBT1092

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 34 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Philharmonia Orchestra Rudolf Kempe, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Symphony No. 39 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Rudolf Kempe, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Rudolf Kempe, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Edward Greenfield
This was the turning point, and the electricity of these performances is a confirmation, every bit as much as the classic Beethoven recordings which followed. If in the first movement of No. 29 Klemperer characteristically takes a spacious and weighty view, very much following a slow Beecham speed but with rugged results, the intensity carries one along, and the other three movements are not at all idiosyncratic, with an elegant slow movement and jaunty minuet followed by an urgent and vigorous finale. This is a tauter performance than Klemperer’s stereo remake of 1965 (listed above, only available as part of a four-disc set of the late Mozart symphonies), even if the approach is not radically different.
The real revelation is the 1954 mono version of the Jupiter Symphony, not only faster but markedly fresher and more biting than the later stereo of 1962, notably in the outer movements. Significantly, in this earlier performance Klemperer observes the exposition repeat in the finale, adding to the weight and power, and the Testament transfer is full, fresh and immediate, generally preferable to the EMI transfer of the stereo version. The disc is completed by an unusually powerful account of Eine kleine Nachtmusik in good early experimental stereo, making one appreciate this for once as late Mozart.
The other disc brings its revelations too, though perhaps not as strikingly, with this mono account of the Prague fresher as well as weightier than the later stereo, at rather faster speeds. In No. 39 Klemperer’s speeds barely alter between this mono version of 1956 and the stereo version of 1962, but the performance is a degree fresher, while the Serenata notturna brings a typical Klemperer contrast, with the orchestra providing rugged, foursquare support for the soloists, who by contrast are allowed their measure of charm and elegance.
The Kempe Mozart disc, also from Testament, and also very well transferred, offers previously unissued stereo recordings of Nos. 39 and 41 made in 1956, as well as a 1955 mono account of No. 34. If after Klemperer the results initially seem smooth and rather soft-grained, the conductor’s warmth and understanding quickly magnetize the ear, and one can only marvel that such performances were left unissued till now. My only reservation concerns the slowness of the minuets in Nos. 39 and 41. No. 34 did appear three years after it was recorded, coupled with Haydn’s No. 104, a delightful performance with an exhilarating account of the 6/8 finale.'
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