Mozart: Violin Concertos

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Academy of Ancient Music (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Academy of Ancient Music
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (October 14, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000042HR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, July 30, 2004

By 

55anonymous55 "55anonymous55" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

These five violin concertos, written by Mozart when he was still a teenager, are some of the earliest works by Mozart found in the standard repertoire today. In fact, the music *sounds* youthful, lacks (for better or worse) the pathos that later crept into Mozart's music, and is often sublimely beautiful.

The performers on this recording, Simon Standage, Christopher Hogwood, and the Academy of Ancient Music, are all leading figures in the modern authentic performance movement. Their recording makes a strong case for performing these concertos on authentic instruments, using a historically informed style. In my first couple minutes of listening I felt startled by Standage's extremely sparing use of vibrato, but my ears quickly got used to it, and soon I felt that the music was coming through with a clarity I had never experienced before. Now that I've heard Standage, conventional performances of these concertos say to me, in effect, "Listen to my plush tone, my rich vibrato, my powerful attack..." Standage isn't calling attention to himself at all, but rather is showing simply and effectively how lovely the music is.

The cadenzas appear to be new, and are often rather witty. The bargain two-disk recording includes a number of concerto movements which I had not previously heard, along with the standard five concertos.

If you already love these works, this recording is definitely worth giving a try; and even though it is "non-standard" in its approach, I would recommend it as a first-time purchase as well.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mozart: The Violin Concertos, etc / Standage, Hogwood, February 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

This recording of the AAM performing Mozart's Violin Concertos like most of their other performances is excellent. The use of period instruments seems particularly well suited to Mozart's music. This CD is well worth the price especially since you get over two hours of music.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't have it any other way, January 13, 2011

By 

MMS "plasticspoons" (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

I bought this CD 15+ years ago and it has remained in my classical rotation ever since. I can't imagine a better approach than that of Hogwood and Standage. I love the crisp attack. I own a CD version of Mozarts sinfonia concertante with Ishtak Perlman on the violin. I would love to get a version with Standage. I don't much care for the "weepy" overdone modern way of playing Mozart on the violin. His music definitely calls for the Hogwood and Standage approach. I can't recommend this CD highly enough.