Learning to love Mozart as much as he deserves

The Piano Concertos are the place to start in my view, especially as you have an integral set in mind to get - go from 17 to the end in the first instance, but even the earlier works show genius, especially Number Nine in E Flat ...

ATB from George

Say what?! Mike, you do know that actors generally play different characters from one project to the next, right? It's called "acting." What does Hulce having been in Animal House have anything to do with his performance in Amadeus? I mean, really, literally ... please explain what the connection is, I'm flummoxed.

Aside from that, a big part of the artistic success of Amadeus was that it was as much about Salieri as it was about Mozart.

And I agree with the recommendations of Mozart's clarinet concerto.

Yes, it is the Adagio from the Clarinet Concerto in A that I was thinking of earlier.  Threads like this are good as it re-acquaints one sometimes with pieces that haven't had a good listen for a year or two or even longer... 

Other favorite Mozart of mine is in the chamber realm - that of the Violin Sonatas, Piano Trios, Piano Quartetts, String Quartets, String Quintets and on and on.

Mozart was a very prolific composer and would keep anyone interested busy for a lifetime.

Amadeus was too over the top for my taste.  That is not the Mozart of the Solomon biography.

That aside, can anyone recommend a particular recording of the clarinet concerto (or did I miss that) ?

Fabio di Casolas recent performance of the Clarinet Concerto on Sony CD is wonderful, and has given me much pleasure recently. The Sunday Times said of it:

[Di Casola's] brilliant tone and mellifluous technique are allied to immaculate musical instincts: he catches the mood shifts of the opening allegro...and the sublime adagio sounds like an aria without words, “sung” with inexhaustible reserves of breath, astounding dynamic spectrum and palette of colour...An unforgettable performance.”

There are some other reviews here http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Sony/88697646722

The Sunday Times has been a great source of Mozart recommendations recently.

Thanks, I'll give Fabio di Casolas a try.

I think it very odd, but on Amazon US, this is only available as MP3 downloads !

Any other recommendations ?

Jack Brymer made several recordings of the clarinet concerto. These never earned universal praise but I always liked his straightforward way with the music and his mellow tone. Can especially recommend the recording he made with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in the early 70s for Philips, if you can find it, for the stellar support and the oboe concerto coupling. These performances have aged well.

Cheers,

EJ

There's a famous 'classic' performance by Thea King with the English Chamber Orchestra on Hyperion which you won't go wrong with, but I happen to enjoy the one on Das Alter Werk under Nicolas Harnoncourt  - original instruments, so closer to what Mozart would have heard, and the oboe and flute concertos too. 

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Clarinet-Concerto-Oboe-flute/dp/B000V1V0YI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1302111888&sr=8-1

Mike,

In reference, and further to James’s splendid recommendations…

I really think it should be emphasized that one doesn’t need to be a devout Christian (or even be a Christian for that matter) to enjoy the experience of Mozart’s sacred musik… You do not need permission from God, or the Pope, one is free to purchase Mozart’s masses to enjoy regardless of one's own belief… even though a Pagan witch myself I am deeply touched by the extraordinary magic that exudes from the Mass in C minor...

Many superb versions exist but cutting to the chase I recommend the Ferenc Fricsay... you may be able to find a CD copy for just a few $.

Ferenc Fricsay had a very fine way with Mozart‘s sacred musik, his Symphonies and Opera’s are also very underestimated these days imho.

Also, you can forget the LP vs. CD nonsense, you don’t even need a home audio to appreciate the gravity of Mozart Requiem in D minor when played though the tape-deck in the car during a drizzly drive home though too much weather, really quite spellbinding : )

Debs

Linn Records have a very fine version of the Requiem with the SCO under Mackerras - you can download the Studio Master in 24/96. If you want to find out what your soul and your hifi is capable of, just download the 'Dies Irae' and play  it loud. 

Thanks Debs, I'm ordering that Requiem. 

Whatever you do don't listen to it in the car.

:-)

The Geza Anda Mozart Piano Concertos came today.  As George recommended, I put on the disc with #17 first.  

It doesn't rile up my emotions like Beethoven,  but I feel unusually relaxed and happy listening to it.  I wouldn't mind feeling like this again :-)

The recording is beautifully clear and the playing is so perfect I can see that many hours will be spent with this set.

Don't think I need scores for this.

Geza Anda [who died rather young] was an amazing musician who combined a phenomenal musical insight of a magical order with technical perfection. These recording [from the 1960s] present us, in utter clarity and natural briliance, with the almost mystical phenomen of Mozart's genius and Anda's life enhancing musical abilities ...

Enjoy them dear Mike! They have everything going for them, and can only entrance you with Mozart's unique musical expressive world - a wonderful entry point, IMO.

ATB from George

I had a second go at #17 with more attention, and Mozart finally knocked me back on my feet.  The 1st and 2nd movements have a grand sense of scale and drama, and the melody is to die for.

I think this is something one could grow to love :-)

Your are already bloody well hooked, my friend! Now attack the number 25!

Or 20, well to 27. All different, but a cosmos of musical genius that is unrivalled. Not by Beethoven's tenchancy, or Bach's subliminal galctic universality ...

I am really enjoying Geza Anda, he is a wonderful musician, and the recording is very clear and well balanced.

It feels as though Mozart is opening a whole new world of music to my ears, and it is making me look at Bach and Beethoven in a new light.

I am grateful it's so easy to fall in love with Mozart !

I'm off to hear Nos 17 and 24 live in a few hours

(p.s. Mozart discovered Bach's music, and it affected his own; if you want Bach, Beethoven and Mozart allinone piece of incredible music, have a listen to the last movement of Mozart's Symphony 41)

Mozart was, in my opinion, the greatest genius in the world ever: it's all there in his music.

I find it decidedly odd that someone aged 61 - who persistently lectures this Forum about his knowledge of "classical" music, but who was not a lover of Mozart's music - should become converted to Mozart's greatness in the space of a day by listening to a recording of Geza Anda playing a concerto twice.

Such shallowness is remarkable, Mike! What the heck happened whenever you listened to Mozart's music over the last 40 years or more? 

I have loved Mozart's last five symphonies, and the Magic Flute, for decades, but never felt compelled to search further until now.  I wouldn't have thought to look to the Piano Concertos, as the few I had heard seemed trite.  Nothing about the first two movements of #17 seems trite.

It is my habit to spend a great deal of time on each piece I try to understand, and I always had something other than Mozart drawing my attention.

At any rate, I am grateful to have a more lively interest in Mozart now, and plan to spend the weekend with these Concertos :-)

Nothing quite matches having a hunger to hear more of something new.

It's not shallow, I just move very slowly :-)

.. you wait till you discover the String Quintets.

We listened to #17 again on Friday evening, then by myself this morning.

I think I see how the three movements fit together.  This deserves more study, and we will be ordering scores.

Mozart is a breath of fresh air in my life.  Wonder what about me changed :-)

Later I tried out #24 in C Minor and #25 in C Major.  Just fantastic, and with such vitality !

This is a little personal to write about on the forum, but I have to say it to someone.  My wife, who has been a pianist her entire life, can't play right now.  If she lets her hands relax, they curl up into balls.  New Mozart Piano Concertos are a welcome diversion.

After reading this thread I started to wonder - what have I played on classical guitar from Mozart? And I couldn't remember anything interesting apart of single piece called "The Mirror Canone" - this is very short piece in a single page arranged for two guitars, so that both players are seating and reading the notes from the two opposite directions on the note sheet - these are the two voices in the melody. At first I thought it is a joke, but after playing it with my teacher at those times it was very enjoyable piece. And to make it more mysterious there is no real evidence that this piece was really written by Mozart. It was not very difficult piece to play but the harmony of the only two voices was gorgeous - and that's Mozart! On the other side I love Bach as well, but IMHO this is completely different style - you can here the different voices and their harmonies and dissonances very clear and I think this makes it easier to understand his music. Of course, it is very difficult technically, but one can manage to "guess the next right turn". Anyway, take some of the most famous Mozart pieces and just listen to them without trying to get every single bit of them and I think you'll catch it :-)