Customer Reviews

"Mozart: Serenade for 13 Winds ""Gran Partita"""

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many, I'm sure I fell in love with this piece (and Mozart's music in general) after watching the film Amadeus. Salieri's vivid and tear jerking description of The Gran Partita's adagio never fails to send shiver down my spine when I hear it: "On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God."

Well, that was several years ago that I first saw the film and now I'm the proud owner of the Philips Complete Mozart Edition yet I still always find myself buying Mozart Cd's of works that I truly love (can one have enough of such great music?). It goes without saying that The Gran Partita, Mozart's 10th Serenade is one the best works of his earlier period (basically anything before K. 400 or so) and actually one of his best pieces of music period.

This performance pretty much does everything absolutely right. I can't help but think this is the exact music Salieri would've heard in his head when he said that quote. And even after hearing it hundreds of times I literally melt every time the adagio plays. But the rest of movements are just as close to perfection. I must say that this version even bests the one in the Complete Mozart Edition, but I'm glad I have both.

In short, I highly recommend this to anyone who loves Mozart and this piece in particular. I do wish they would've put another work on hear to compliment the Gran Partita though. Perhaps the Haffner Serenade or even Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Despite the absense of any other work you still definitely get your money's worth form what's here. Highly recommended.

I own this Mackerras version of the Gran Partita. It is absolutely phenomenal. I fell in love with the work when I heard it played in Amadeus. The way Salieri said he felt like he was hearing the voice of God, made me realize, that perhaps this was a valid thought. I immediately purchased the soundtrack for this particular piece. I liked it so much that when I saw Mackerras came out with this, I had to buy it. It is much better. The sound, the pace, the phrasing---gorgeous.

I feel confident giving this disc 5 stars. I've heard the Gran Partita by many ensembles on record and in the concert hall, and this one reaches perfection early and maintains it throughout. Essential.

Mackerras is a true Mozartean conductor, and the Orchestra of St. Luke play like angels for him. As perfect a recording as Mozart could have hoped for. The wind instruments never make funny noises in this performance like they do in the hands of lesser musicians. The sound is glorious and gorgeous, the tempos well-judged, the recorded digital sound superb. Highly recommended. If you loved Mozart's Gran Partita, give Haydn's Wind Quintet Divertimento No.1 in B Major a try. Hopefully, record companies will one day start issuing it on the same CD as Mozart's Gran Partita serenade.

There's not much more I can add to the reviews below. This is a superb performance of an absolutely beautiful work. The Serenade is written for 13 winds (2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassett horns, 4 horns, 2 bassoons, and 1 contrabass). What Mozart is able to do over the course of seven movements is simply astonishing. The variety, colors and sonorities are amazing when you realize this is a chamber work.

The members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, lead by Sir Charles Mackerras turn in an impeccable performance. The sound quality is terrific too, with plenty of air and space around the instruments. If you're new to Mozart and are looking to explore his chamber works (or chamber music in general), this is a great place to start. The only downside is the short playing time (50 minutes). However, that's a minor issue for such a great performance.

It was first introduced to us on our New Zealand Concert program. We loved it and just had to purchase the CD. We still love it and listen to it over and over again. Can't hear enough of it!
Apparently even Einstein was moved deeply by the Adagio.