Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Symphony No. 38 in D major ('Prague'), K. 504: 1. Adagio - Allegro
2. Symphony No. 38 in D major ('Prague'), K. 504: 2. Andante
3. Symphony No. 38 in D major ('Prague'), K. 504: 3. Finale. Presto
4. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550: 1. Molto allegro
5. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550: 2. Andante
6. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550: 3. Menuetto: Allegretto
7. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550: 4. Allegro assai

Disc 2:

1. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543: 1. Adagio - Allegro
2. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543: 2. Andante con moto
3. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543: 3. Menuetto & Trio: Allegretto
4. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543: 4. Finale: Allegro
5. Symphony No. 41 in C major ('Jupiter'), K. 551: 1. Allegro vivace
6. Symphony No. 41 in C major ('Jupiter'), K. 551: 2. Andante cantabile
7. Symphony No. 41 in C major ('Jupiter'), K. 551: 3. Menuetto & Trio: Allegretto
8. Symphony No. 41 in C major ('Jupiter'), K. 551: 4. Molto allegro

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #214165 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

Norrington's eccentric Mozart
These performances were first issued around 1990, and they reflected a new currency of thought on late eighteenth-century music. (Locally, the main exponent was the late musicologist and radio personality William Malloch,who did the liner notes for Charles Mackerras's Mozart series.) Using as evidence contemporary metronome markings and as well as mechanical devices of the time (musical clocks and music boxes), the advocates of the new/old style espoused three basic points:
1. Slow introductions would be taken as about the same tempo as the main allegro. The difference between the two would be in terms of emphasis: the strong accent would be on the half note in the "slow" introduction and on the quarter note in the main allegro.
2. Slow movements are more animated than tradition would allow; in particular an andante would be more of a walking tempo.
3. Minuets are fast, and played one beat to the measure. (As in, say, Schnabel's performance of Beethoven 0p.2 No.3) In fact, by this measure, Beethoven did not speed up the third movements, he slowed them down for greater weight.
Norrington's recordings of Mozart fit within this framework, with varying degree of success. The 39th and Jupiter are excellent; well paced and lovingly played. (Maybe too lovingly; there are moments when his care with the phrasing threatens to break up the flow of the music.) The Prague and the G-minor are a different kettle of fish altogether. For reasons that elude me, Norrington opts for an extreme legato, with the result that the notes seem to be glued together. The effect is most pronounced (and irritating) in the first movement of the Prague (the music is almost unrecognizable) and to a lessor degree the last two movements of the G-minor. What possessed him to play the music in this way is difficult to imagine; I can only hope that he now regards this as a failed experiment.