Mozart: Opera Overtures / Haydn: Symphony No. 96

Wolfgang A. Mozart (Composer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Bruno Walter (Conductor), Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Bruno Walter
• Composer: Wolfgang A. Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn
• Audio CD (May 28, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002A8C
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,957 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Minuet for orchestra in F major, K. 599/5

2. Minuet for orchestra in C major, K. 568/1

3. German dances (3) for orchestra, K. 605: No. 1 in D major

4. German dances (3) for orchestra, K. 605: No. 2 in G major

5. German dances (3) for orchestra, K. 605: No. 3 in C major

6. Maurerische Trauermusik (Masonic Funeral Music), for orchestra in C minor, K. 477 (K. 479a)

7. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Overture

8. Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492: Overture

9. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Overture

10. Der Schauspieldirektor, opera, K. 486: Overture

11. Symphony No. 96 in D major ('Miracle'), H. 1/96: 1. Adagio - Allegro

12. Symphony No. 96 in D major ('Miracle'), H. 1/96: 2. Andante

13. Symphony No. 96 in D major ('Miracle'), H. 1/96: 3. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio

14. Symphony No. 96 in D major ('Miracle'), H. 1/96: 4. Finale. Vivace (assai)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mozart, Haydn Going Fast, July 15, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart: Opera Overtures / Haydn: Symphony No. 96 (Audio CD)

As someone who has only recently begun seriously collecting classical CDs, the Bruno Walter Edition has been a revelation. Not only do many of the titles in this series offer Walter's "Indian Summer" recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, but they also feature many of the conductor's performances from the 1950s during his association with the New York Philharmonic. On this CD you get some of each -- classic mono performances with the NYPO of Mozart Overtures, Minuets, German Dances and more, and Haydn's "Miracle" Symphony with the CSO, all from 1954. I should conclude by saying that since making a point of acquiring all of the Bruno Walter Edition titles earlier this year, I have witnessed several of them falling prey to the deletion axe. So order the Bruno Walter Edition titles quickly, because these recordings made during the twilight of Walter's career, seem to be in the twilight of their own life as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walter's classic way with Mozart and Haydn--absolutely superb, December 16, 2005

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart: Opera Overtures / Haydn: Symphony No. 96 (Audio CD)

At every stage of his long career Bruno Walter showed a special affinity for Mozart; they were almost kindred spirits. He lavished warmth and affection to the utmost degree on Mozart's lyric line, but Walter also had a geat sense of joy, and this helped the minuets and dance movements to leap to life. The Mozart recordings here are all in mono from 1954, half with the NY Phil., half with a pickup Columbia Sym.

The two opening minuets and four German dances are fuller in spirit and slower than modern readings, but bursting with buoyancy even so. The collection really takes off with four opera overtures (Magic Flute, Figaro, Cosi, and the Impressario) so infectious and lively that I kept thinking they were the best I'd ever heard--only the classic Klemperer recordings rival them. Have no fear, they are fast and rambunctious, not slow and mincing.

The Haydn "Miracle" Sym. #96, also from 1954 (everything on this CD was recorded in Nov. and Dec. of that year) features the NY Phil. in excellent sound, so identical to the Mozart overtures that I suspect the Columbia Sym. is just a pseudonym. In any event, this is infectious, warm-hearted Haydn--what a relief from the Skinny Minnie foisted on us recently. Everything has inner life and therefore is perfect.

Along with the Mozart overtures, the Haydn is masterful. Five stars without a doubt, and I won't even complain about the 57 min. duration.