Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 40, 41

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), George Szell (Conductor), Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
• Conductor: George Szell
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (January 29, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005YNH6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,300 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #43 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > General Modern
  • #50 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > General AAS
  • #53 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Classical (c.1770-1830) > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repackaged in bright ugly orange, but still the best., January 18, 2003

By 

R.D. Monsoon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 40, 41 (Audio CD)

When it comes to Mozart, I'm one of those people who prefer his works on period instruments. To my ears, the sound and size of a period orchestra suits his music much better. When it comes to George Szell conducting Mozart though, there simply is nothing better. Interestingly, his approach to Mozart (as well as Haydn) is a precursor to the Historical Informed Performance movement that would emerge in the 70s and gain popularity in the 80s. Unlike Szell's peers in the 60s, he performed Mozart without heavy-handed romanticism and a bloated orchestra. He takes full advantage of Cleveland's chamberesque sound, transparency and razor sharp precision. Szell brilliantly allows every note of each symphony to be heard, revealing the inner-workings of these Mozart symphonies. Over 40 years later these recordings are still tough to beat. The finale of the Haffner is worth the price of admission alone - no one else takes it quite as fast Szell and Cleveland.

New comers to these recording will probably be taken back by the lack of repeats. Szell omits them for two reason. First, Szell thought that when taken, they hurt the overall balance between movements in each symphony. The other reason which he never admitted to, was that he (and Columbia Records) wanted to keep each symphony on one side of an LP. In concert he was known to observe some repeats, such as in symphony no.41.

For those who already own these symphonies on CD, Sony has merely repackaged them. *The sound has not been remastered in any way*. I'm not sure what's the deal with this. Based on the recordings Sony has released on Essential Classics, MasterWorks Heritage, and now SACD, it would appear that they realize Szell's recordings are the best in their catalogue. However, by simply repackaging these symphonies, they've passed over an excellent opportunity to use the latest technology to remaster these recordings (the last time any remastering was done was over 12 years ago) and to bring back in print more Szell conducting Mozart, such as Symphony no.39 (which as been released on SACD).

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Mozart, January 12, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 40, 41 (Audio CD)

In the 1950s and 60s, CBS/Columbia (now Sony Classical) had the great fortune to have three of America's best orchestras and their conductors on their recording roster -- Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. Nearly a half-century later, only Leonard Bernstein remains a name that even the non-classical music world knows well. But in the world of the compact disc, this is a wonderful thing, because while Leonard Bernstein analog stereo recordings sell at mid-price, classic performances by Ormandy and Szell are regulated to the budget line. Well, my friends there is justice in the world because the vast majority of these "budget line" recordings are not only amazing, but some are still considered definitive more than 40 years later! One such definitive performance is this Szell recording of Mozart's 35th, 40th and 41st Symphonies. Never did something of such high quality come at such a small price. Enjoy!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Szell's Mozart Is A Tour-De-Force!, November 7, 2006

By 

dv_forever (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 40, 41 (Audio CD)

I've been listening to the late Mozart symphonies for years and these Szell recordings continually stand out as some of the finest. Szell beats Marriner, Bernstein, Gardiner and even Karajan most of the time. Szell's Haffner is radiant, one of the finest ever played. His account of the 40th symphony, the famous G Minor is still unsurpassed, the richness and dark emotions of the opening movement are brought out as never before or since. Szell gives off no sentimentality whatsoever and this music sings and flies under his baton. Bernstein and Karajan are easily superseded in the Haffner and G Minor symphonies. The final symphony, number 41, the magnificent Jupiter, one of Mozart's greatest creations and one of the most perfect symphonies ever composed gets a stunning performance. Here the competition is stiffer and you should definitely hear Karajan in the Jupiter, check out his DG 2CD set of the late Mozart symphonies. Other than Karajan, Szell reigns supreme on modern instruments, utilizing the full orchestra.

Szell skips many of the repeats which have become customary these days, the repeats sure can get annoying, it's nice to hear Szell letting the music speak for itself instead of being merely academic. Szell takes the repeat in the opening movement of the Haffner symphony, this is something that recent day conductors don't do since Mozart did not put a repeat sign for this movement. The 40th symphony also gets the all important exposition repeat in it's opening movement, the finale moves along sans repeats. The Jupiter is repeat free in the opening movement and the finale. The finale especially can get very tedious if both halves of it's structure are repeated like in the Bernstein recording.

Basically if you love Mozart played by modern instruments on a full-sized orchestra, I can't recommend Szell's CD enough, it's a classic in every sense, fast, elegant, dramatic and full of charm. You must buy it if you love Mozart.