Title: Piano Concertos No.21 "Elvira Madigan", No.26 "Coronation" Performers: Robert Casadesus, Columbia Symphony Orchestra Director: George Szell Year: 1962 Length: 29 minutes
Review
Weirdly enough this was one of the most loved Mozart piano concertos in the 19th century and has now come to the point where it is really looked down on as one of the least good ones from his amazing sequence of final concertos.
I understand why it isn't loved as much now, it is a very easy concerto, almost a caricature of Mozart, it sounds extremely Mozartean. That said, however, it is a pretty beautiful one, particularly the amazingly romantic slow movement.
Still, it isn't one of the most original of Mozart's pieces, but his final piano concertos are all so good that it is hard to blame him for having one which seems a bit like going through the motions. They are great motions anyway. Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The traditional name associated with this work is not Mozart's own, nor was the work written for the occasion for which posterity has named it. Mozart remarks in a letter to his wife in April 1789 that he had just performed this concerto at court. But the nickname "Coronation" is derived from his playing of the work at the time of the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor in October 1790 in Frankfurt am Main. At the same concert, Mozart also played the Piano Concerto No. 19, K. 459. We know this because when Johann Andre of Offenbach published the first editions of both concertos in 1794, he identified them on their title pages as being performed on the occasion of Leopold's coronation. Alan Tyson in his introduction to Dover Publications' facsimile of the autograph score (which today is at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York) comments that "Although K. 459 has at times been called a 'Coronation' concerto, this title has nearly always been applied to K. 537"
Title: Don Giovanni Performers: Eberhard Watcher, Joan Sutherland, Giuseppe Taddei Director: Carlo Maria Giulini Year: 1959 Length: 3 hours Review
This is often and widely considered the best opera of all time, and honestly it might just be. It really depends however on what you consider to be most important in opera, but on balance this is still amazing. The music is the best of any Mozart opera I have listened to, extremely effective emotionally.
The libretto might, in my opinion be slightly inferior to that of Nozze di Figaro as it is not sustained as well throughout, the beginning of the second act is not that exciting and the end after the death of Giovanni feels superfluous. The thing is the Death of Giovanni just before the end is one of the most riveting moments in any opera, the Commendatore dragging him to hell is a moment of extreme power.
The main character is a psychopathic sex-addict, rapist and murderer, which is uncommon to say the least and there is a perverse pleasure to the whole thing, he does get his comeuppance at the end, but still... Amazing stuff indeed, Mozart is just something else.
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Of the many operas based on the legend of Don Juan, Don Giovanni is thought to be beyond comparison. Da Ponte's libretto was billed like many of its time as dramma giocoso: "giocoso" meaning comic, and "dramma" signifying an operatic text (an abbreviation of "dramma per musica"). Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an "opera buffa". Although often classified as comic, it is a unique blend of comic (buffa) and drama (seria). Subtitled "dramma giocoso", the opera blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a long essay in his book Enten/Eller (Either/Or) in which he argues, quoting Charles Gounod, that Mozart's Don Giovanni is “a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection.” The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent, has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including George Bernard Shaw, who in Man and Superman parodied the opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni).
Thank God for the internet, and it is actually the Giulini recording so great!:
Title: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Performers: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Director: Neville Marriner Year: 1987 Length: 17 minutes
Review
Few pieces of music are as famous as the four movements in what is probably Mozart's most famous Serenade and piece in general. That is at the same time the great thing about it, the way it is instantly recognisable and you can sing along to all of it, but also its major problem.
This is so popular that it is hard to come to it with fresh ears, it has long ago reached the state of banal music, too much success for its own good, by far. But if you try you can get good things from it.
It is not only fun, but the capacity of Mozart to make such endurable music over 200 years ago that every 5 year old can sing today is quite astonishing. Mozart is a master of immediately attractive music when he wants to leave complexities aside and this is a perfect example of that. Populist music at its best.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Mozart listed this work as having five movements in his own catalogue of his works. ("Allegro - Minuet and Trio. - Romance, Minuet and Trio and Finale.") The second movement in his listing, a minuet and trio, was long thought lost and no one knows if it was Mozart or someone else who removed it. Musicologist Alfred Einstein has suggested, however, that a minuet in Piano Sonata in B-flat, K.498a, is the missing movement. The sonata's minuet has been recorded in an arrangement for string quartet,although music scholars are not certain that Einstein is correct.
Title: The Seven Words Performer: Rosamunde Quartet Year: 2000 Length: 1 hour 5 minutes
Review
This is an interesting recording of some peculiar sacred music. Firstly it is sacred music played by a string quartet, although originally it was for full orchestra, but there are no choirs or vocals at all.
Then it is a sequence of seven slow movements with a slow Intro and a chaotic conclusion. It is a testament to the brilliance of Haydn that he manages to keep your interest for what are essentially 8 adagios which last between 6 and 10 minutes each and a 2 minute explosion.
He manages to keep the listener interested because of the sheer variety of slowness that he produces and the heart-achingly beautiful quality of them. It is also an interest throwback to Baroque sacred music without ever losing classical sensibility. A very interesting piece indeed. Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The composer later explained to his amanuensis G.A. Griesinger:
"Some fifteen years ago I was requested by a canon of Cádiz to compose instrumental music on the seven last words of Our Savior on the Cross. It was customary at the Cathedral of Cádiz to produce an oratorio every year during Lent, the effect of the performance being not a little enhanced by the following circumstances. The walls, windows, and pillars of the church were hung with black cloth, and only one large lamp hanging from the center of the roof broke the solemn darkness. At midday, the doors were closed and the ceremony began. After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced the first of the seven words (or sentences) and delivered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and fell to his knees before the altar. The interval was filled by music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners; indeed, I found it quite impossible to confine myself to the appointed limits."
Title: Symphonies Nos. 35-41 Performers: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Director: Herbert Von Karajan Year: 1977 Length: 26 minutes
Review
With Symphony no. 38 we start an uninterrupted sequence of some pretty great symphonies by Mozart, up until his last one, No.41. This one starts ominously, and it isn't hard to see that just a year later he would put out Don Giovanni, there are similarities in the beginning here. It soon goes on to a brilliant allegro and some very attractive music indeed.
The first movement here is really the stand-out movement of the whole thing, but the slow movement is beautiful and the last one is a fast, light and airy Presto which complements the whole thing very well.
The scope of the symphony feels much larger than that of the piano concertos, there is none of the delicate humanity of the piano, and so the music becomes much more epic and grandiose, at times joyous and other times menacing. Pretty great. Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Although Mozart’s popularity among the Viennese waxed and waned, he was consistently popular among the Bohemians and had a devoted following in Prague. A piece appearing in the Prager Neue Zeitung shortly after Mozart’s death expresses this sentiment: "Mozart seems to have written for the people of Bohemia, his music is understood nowhere better than in Prague, and even in the countryside it is widely loved." The Prague Symphony was written in gratitude for their high esteem. It had its premiere in Vienna, on December 6, 1786, and was performed in Prague a month later.
Title: Piano Concertos 21 & 25 Performers: Stephen Kovacevich, London Symphony Orchestra Director: Colin Davis Year: 1972 Length: 31 minutes
Review
Yet another Piano concerto by Mr. Mozart, don't worry there's only two left on the list, and if they are all as good as this one I don't really mind. But there has been a bit of monotony on the list, they could just have gotten a good complete recording and made me review that, but no.
So this is a pretty interesting one, it sounds quite grand at the beginning but much like in number 24 there is an element of delicacy added by the piano itself, it is almost fighting the orchestra here, trying to convince it not to be so pompous.
Again, we have a wonderful Mozart concerto, this is no surprise and honestly you should just get them all. The new Barenboim collection is quite cheap if you are wondering, less than 20 pounds on Amazon UK for 10 CDs.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
K.503 has long been neglected in favor of Mozart’s more “brilliant” concertos, such as K. 467. Though Mozart performed it on several occasions, it was not performed again in Vienna after Mozart’s death until 1934, and it only gained acceptance in the standard repertoire in the later part of the twentieth century. However, it is now regarded as one of Mozart’s greatest works.
Title: Piano Quartet in G minor K478; Piano Quartet in E flat K493 Performers: Paul Lewis, Leopold String Trio Year: 2002 Length: 34 minutes
Review
By its nature the piano quartet has a more intimate feel than the piano concerto, somewhere between the violin sonata and the concerto, and is is quite a pretty thing. This is not as spectacular as any of the Mozart Concertos, but Mozart had a lot more practice with the concertos, he only wrote two of these.
This is quite a long quartet, slightly longer than any of his Piano Concertos, again the comparisons are appropriate, this is very much a concerto for four instruments, the piano part is the dominant one and the trio does the same job as the orchestra.
The more intimate feel of the four instruments makes the whole thing feel more delicate than epic, and in that sense it works extremely well in the slow movement, a very beautiful moment.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Mozart received a commission for three quartets in 1785 from the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister thought the G minor Quartet was too difficult and that the public would not buy it, so he released Mozart from the obligation of completing the set. Nine months later, Mozart composed this quartet anyway.
