Wolfgang+amadeus+mozart

The version submitted by Howard Arman for the Bavarian Radio Chorus is based on surviving Mozart sources as well as on Süßmayr's additions; in several places, however, it reaches new conclusions that are implemented with due caution and humble respect for Mozart's magnificent original. Mozart's Requiem is followed by Neukomm's Respond Libera me, Domine - and for musical, liturgical and chronological reasons, the programme begins with Mozart's Vesperae solennes de Confessore KV 339 (1780), composed of psalms from the Old Testament as well as the Magnificat from the Gospel of St Luke and composed for the liturgical festival of a holy confessor.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail [BluRay Untouched]
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra / Chorus of De Nedelandse Opera / Constantinos Carydis / Johan Simons
MPEG-4 AVC, 1080i, 1.78:1 | Dolby True-HD 5.1, Dolby True-HD 2.0 @ 24Bit/48kHz
Label/Cat#: Opus Arte # OA BD7017 D | Country/Year: Europe 2008 | Size: 44,30 GB | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Viennese School, HiDef

…What a delightful surprise! I was most definitely not prepared for this bold but very entertaining take on Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. I particularly enjoyed Mojca Erdmann's sexy Blonde. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Opus Arte, is very easy to recommend, even if the audio could have been handled a bit better. Highly Recommended.

Frieder Bernius and his Stuttgart forces weigh in with one of the finer Mozart Requiems in a very crowded field–and to ensure this performance’s relative exclusivity, it’s one of only a handful of recordings that use the edition by Franz Beyer, an intelligent and persuasive 1971 effort to correct “obvious textural errors” and some decidedly un-Mozartian features in the orchestration attributable to Franz Süssmayr, Mozart’s pupil/assistant who completed the work after the master’s death. This live concert performance from 1999 offers well-set tempos (including a vigorous Kyrie fugue), infectious rhythmic energy from both chorus and orchestra, robust, precise, musically compelling choral singing, a first rate quartet of soloists–and, especially considering its concert-performance setting, impressively detailed and vibrant sonics. The CD also features informative notes by Beyer himself.

Bei Dabringhaus und Grimm kamen jetzt auch die Flötenquartette von Mozart heraus, und zwar in einer Aufnahme, die der historischen Aufführungspraxis folgt. Konrad Hünteler hat sich mit dem Geiger Rainer Kußmaul, dem Bratschisten Jürgen Kußmaul und dem Cellisten Roel Dieltiens zusammengesetzt, und da spitzt man die Ohren. Denn erst vor einigen Wochen hat Emanuel Pahud, der Soloflötist der Berliner Philharmoniker, eben diese Quartette in einer phänomenalen Neueinspielung vorgelegt. Diesmal sitzt also sein einstiger Konzertmeister Rainer Kußmaul sozusagen im anderen Boot, und tatsächlich wird diese Aufnahme in ganz anderer Weise von der Violine geprägt als die Pahud-CD.

Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu prove they are an excellent duo team in their first recording together, featuring four of Mozart's sonatas for violin and piano. All dating from 1778 and later, Mozart treats the two instruments more equitably in these sonatas than in his earlier ones. Hahn and Zhu are technically flawless together. They match each other as closely as two different instruments can to achieve a true duet sound. Just as Hahn "digs" into her strings for extra friction in the opening of the Sonata in E minor, K. 304, Zhu aims for the same tone quality with her touch. The two use longer note values, enhanced by vibrato and pedal, to give the music a pretty sound. It's probably more than a Classical era purist would like, but this is by no means a Romantic interpretation. Their slow movements, particularly those of K. 376 and K. 526, have beautifully rounded, cantabile phrases. The Allegro con spirito of K. 301 has bright accents and intense diminuendos and crescendos, demonstrating that this music isn't all elegance and delicacy.

These recordings of Mozart's concertos for flute and orchestra, and the concerto for flute and harp, were made exactly a decade apart. In the flute concertos (No. 1 in G and No. 2 in D) the accomplished soloist is Karlheinz Zöller, who performs with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Bernhard Klee in these 1972 accounts. These are spirited, shapely performances, attractively balanced and nuanced, with rapturous, eloquent readings of both slow movements.