Customer Reviews

Joseph Myslivecek: Symphonies

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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After hearing this recording, I think almost anybody would be amazed that 18th-century music of this quality can still be found that has never been recorded before. Every aspect of good symphonic writing--orchestration, figuration, lyricism, virtuosity--was clearly mastered by this composer. The best movements are worthy of Haydn or Mozart. The London Mozart Players have a crisp, accurate, and energetic way of playing that showcases the music beautifully.

Josef Myslivecek: Symphonies premiere recordings:

Josef Myslivecek (1737-1781) was born on March 9, 1737 in Prague, he had a twin brother. They studied at the Charles-Ferdinand University, but in 1753 Josef withdrew and stated studying music with Frantisek Vaclav Habermann and Josef Frantisek Norbert Segar and published his first set of symphonies about the year 1763. On November 5, 1763 Josef left Prague for Venice, where he studied operatic composition with Giovanni Battista Precetti. His first Opera, Semiramide was staged in Bergamo in 1766.

The Mozarts', both Leopold and Wolfgang were correspondants of Myslivecek and they worked at finding each other jobs, but the association soon soured when Myslivecek could not get Wolfgang a promise to secure an operatic commission at the Terro san Carlo in Naples for the Carnival in 1779

Myslivecek composed a large quantity of chamber music and 45 symphonies. In this CD we have just a few of the symphonies played here:

Symphony in C major, F 26
Symphony in A major, F 27
Symphony in F major, F 28
Symphony in B flat major, F 30
Symphony in G major, F 31

This is a Chandos CD recording all digital stereo recording and it is well recorded, by The London Mozart Players under the direction of Matthias Bamert. This is part of the Contemporaries of Mozart series. This is a Chandos 24-bit Recording. The Chandos policy of being at the forefront of technology is now further advanced by the use of 24-bit recording. 24-bits has a dynamic range that is up to 48dB greater and up to 256 times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings. These improvements now let you the listener enjoy more of the natural clarity and ambiance of the Chandos sound. Oh, it shows you'll hear clear concise instrumentation and sound.

This CD is a very good 5 star recording of the finest symphonies written by Josef Myslivecek of a gracious eighteenth-century Italian symphonic style that is little heard today. These recording fill in some of the missing pieces in 18th century music. Yes, we heard echos of Haydn and yes we hear Mozart give a flare to some of these period pieces. But, never-the-less the music was grand and life was different, and they enjoyed good music. Myslivecek, Haydn, and Mozart had tonal similarities, and maybe a bit of phasing, but these men wrote their own music, without a doubt. You can hear the Il Divino Boemo, as Myslivecek was known, in these symphonies.

According to a CBC Radio 2 music show ("Music and Company"), Mozart sought out and admired the work of Josef Myslivecek while Mozart was an adolescent and young adult. Today, Myslivecek is virtually ignored. Too bad.