Customer Reviews

Mozart Festival

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love Mozart and have many pleasant memories surrounding his music...Rock Me Amadeus! This music is breathe taking. And I will be enjoying it for many years to come.

This was my first purchase of classical music ever! It surprizes me that it is still available. When I bought this set, I knew nothing about conductors, performers, and orchestras and back then you couldn't even listen to sound clips to give you an idea of the recording because that technology was unavailable. My only saving grace was I really enjoyed the movie, "Amadeus", and it was reasonably priced, so I said what the heck. The amazing thing about this set is when I compare these performances with big label recordings such as, EMI, DG, & Naxos, I am still amazed how well they stack up to them.

Let me first say everything here sounds great; from the sym.s, overt.s, & concert.s right down to the "Rondo alla Turca". Everything has an excellent polish, pace, timing, color and sound. Actually, I prefer the piano concertos here to those of my Barenboim EMI box-set. The piano used here sounds like a period instrument and gives the performances an authentic sound and feel. Not to mention the soloist's interpretations are top notch.

Now as for the Mass in C, I still have not been able to find a better recording of it anywhere. It is the "Gold Standard". The soloists have great voices, the singing is exactly on cue, and the orchestra soars. I think this set was a 200 yr commerative set of Mozart 1791-1991, and released in 1994. I am convinced the musicians here really do Mozart justice. Now, this is not an all-inclusive greatest hits but touches on most of his major works coupled with variety. This is a really good starter set and I highly recommend it.

I received CD #2 from the set, with the Jupiter Symphony, Little Night Music, Horn Concerto, and the Turkish theme.

Very nice performances, all of them, taken at reasonable tempos, not too fast, and not too slow. I was especially impressed with the balance on the Jupiter recording. Sometimes the woodwinds and brass are underrecorded, with the strings predominant. Not so here. The woodwinds are faithfully recorded and stand up against the violins. Very nice CD.