Mozart: Symphonies 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 / Karajan

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (July 15, 1997)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GY8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,314 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful performances if you like this style for Mozart, October 6, 2003

By 

Alan (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 / Karajan (Audio CD)

OK, I'm a Karajan fan. And I like a lot of his recordings that are dismissed by many.

So it's not too surprising that I like these recordings. And if you like the late Mozart symphonies played by modern instruments with a largish complement of strings, you may well like them, too.

Despite the fairly large number of players, Karajan keeps textures light and airy (something that wasn't always true in his late-in-life Mozart performances). There is a great deal of detail in these performances. Tempi are generally quite fast. These are energetic yet very graceful performances. To my ears, very little of it sounds heavy (though I do think that number 35 sounds a bit heavy at points). Quite the opposite, in fact.

I don't mind that few of the repeats are taken, but that will probably disqualify these performances for some people.

If you don't like lots of legato in your Mozart, if you don't like orchestral playing that puts a high value on sheer beauty of sound in these works, you won't like these performances. But if you do like that sort of Mozart, you will probably like these performances. Of that style, they are exemplary. The slow movements, quite beautiful but not romanticized, are especially fine.

For whatever it's worth, I do also like Mozart on period instruments. I can't help but suspect, though, that Mozart would have been very happy with performances that sound as beautiful as these do and that he would have enjoyed hearing these symphonies with a larger complement of strings than he would have had.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the only versions you'll want, but still fabulous!, June 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 / Karajan (Audio CD)

On another Karajan/Mozart CD, the Amazon reviewer wrote that Karajan's interpretations are too smooth and not detailed enough for many people's tastes. Fair enough. But you actually find a lot of wonderful music on this inexpensive 2 CD set. First of all, the tempi are excellently chosen. Karl Bohm's tempi (with the same orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, so an interesting comparison) are sometimes too slow and almost cumbersome. The third movement of the 41st has a fine pace that accentuates the waltz-like feel of the the music. The 1st movement of the 40th, which is often taken too quickly or too slowly, is just right. Secondly, there is actually a lot of fine detail in the winds, and the big lush sound of the Berlin strings is an enjoyable treatment of Mozart, after the abundance of chamber and period recordings of his symphonies. This is a fun set that includes many musical gems. However, you might want to try the versions of Barenboim, Szell, Bohm, or Marriner as well.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerhouse Readings, February 14, 2008

By 

K. Boullosa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 / Karajan (Audio CD)

I agree with several other reviewers here that this might not be the only recording you'd like to have of Mozart's late symphonies - but it's certainly worth a hearing. My personal favorite among Mozart's late symphonies is the Prague (#38) because the contrapuntalism in the first movement produces a remarkable back and forth between joyousness and darkness (I believe the Great Amadeus, as Alex the Droog called him, was playing with something like six different themes in the this movement). So, I bought this set to hear how Karajan approached the "Prague", but enjoyed the rest of the set thoroughly, as well. The second and third movements of the "Prague" are spacious and beautiful.

Karajan and the Berliners, with their sheer resources in sound (particularly the strings), play some of this music almost as if it were Brahms, and with routinely rapid tempi. Emphasis on the word "almost" - Karajan pulls back from the brink of distorting the music and I don't think he sacrifices detail with lushness of sound and fast tempi. Even a nonmusician can hear in these recordings the glories of structure that Mozart achieved in these late works, with the result that they are so often far greater than the sum of their parts. Purists perhaps won't like them, but these recordings swept me out to sea. If you listen to Bruno Walter's romantic interpretations of the G Minor and the Jupiter, Karajan hasn't wandered so far from home here. The renowned Karl Bohm recordings have always seemed a bit slow to me. Those interested in a lacier, less lush approach might want to look into Beecham's recordings, which are more in the purists' mold.

These are some of the best orchestral musicians in the world allied to one of the Western world's greatest artistic genuises. You can't go far wrong with the combination - Mozart's genius was that his music wasn't confined by the 18th century instrumentation he was working with. It is his music's structure, here serving the less facile and deeper qualities of his later musical ideas, that gives this music its greatness. This is certainly a recording worth your time and effort.