Bruno Walter - The Edition ~ Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, & 41 "Jupiter"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Bruno Walter (Conductor), New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Bruno Walter
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (October 31, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002A83
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,468 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Artistry of the Past, April 5, 2000

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A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruno Walter - The Edition ~ Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, & 41 "Jupiter" (Audio CD)

To those of us who remember Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Toscanini, etc., and start to doubt our memories of the great beauty brought into our lives through the art of music, I suggest this disc. After hearing it, I had to buy more discs to share this joy.

The more we hear the recordings by artists of the first fifty years of the twentieth century, the more we are reminded of their greatness and that which is not present in popular performers today.

Use this disc as a standard to expect more from present day musicians.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the MONO sound put you off..., August 19, 2005

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Alan Majeska "Alan Majeska" (Bad Axe, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bruno Walter - The Edition ~ Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, & 41 "Jupiter" (Audio CD)

Don't let Sony's Mono sound put you off this recording: these are wonderful performances, the sound clear and balanced in these early-mid 1950s recordings. Bruno Walter (1876-1962) was one of the 20th century's great Mozart conductors, along with Otto Klemperer, George Szell, Thomas Beecham, and Karl Bohm. He performed Mozart frequently in concert throughout his career, and recorded Symphonies 25,28,29,35,36,38,39,40,and 41 with the New York Philharmonic in the early 1950s (Mono sound) and Symphonies 35-41 with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra (members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic + some studio musicians) in the late 1950s in stereo. Both sets are excellent in sound and performance: the earlier set has slightly faster tempos and a "Leaner" sound; the later set slower tempos and a richer, fuller sound, due to stereo technology.

I recommend these highly, along with Walter's recordings of Mozart Symphonies 36+38; and 25,28,29,35:also in the "Bruno Walter Edition" if you can find them. Sony is to be commended for releasing these recordings. I also recommend Walter's later Columbia Symphony cycle of Mozart Symphonies 35,36,38,39,40,41 if you can find it. For a differing point of view, there's George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra Mozart Symphonies 35,39,40,41 (35,40,41 are in a Sony "Essential Classics" budget issue).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beloved Mozart conductor at his peak, March 14, 2006

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bruno Walter - The Edition ~ Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, & 41 "Jupiter" (Audio CD)

These classic mono recordings from 1953 and 1956 are easy to evaluate--they have been mainstrays of the Mozart catalog for fifty years and show no sign of decline. Walter was at his most vigorous here, showing more inner life and alertness than in his stereo remakes with the Columbia Sym. We are fortunate that two great Mozarteans, Walter and Klemperer, left us both their mono and stereo versions of the same works, for even in decline these towering musicians are commadning in their interpretations.

Having said that, I was still surprised on revisiting Walter's Sym. 39 at how forwardly aggressive it really is compared to late Walter, and how much better the NY Phil. plays than I had remembered. The G minor and Jupiter are equally muscular and diect. This is often edge-of-your-seat musicmaking, caught in very warm mono sound. The slow movements are without repeats, and period-performance fanciers will be impatient with the weighty minuets and romaticized slow movements. To me, neither is much of a limitation. Walter's Mozart is as timeless as his Mahler, and this CD is a treasure. I'm grateful that Sony didn't stick with the stereo versions, which were already bestsellers in their catalog.