The Symphonies

04-04-2015 On this Good Friday early morning, allow me to present my first ever complete box set Mozart Symphonies, all led by Sir Charles Mackerras, with the Prague Chamber orchestra. Recorded for Telarc, this 10 CD set feature a booklet, just chocked full, of the finest analysis, commentary and anecdotes, along with the kind if humor that blends well with the Salzberg Master. With sets by Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius and Nielsen, I have only to add the "Father if the Symphony, Franz Joseph Haydn to my library. These rollicking little jewels skip and prance along with lightness, élan, and the youthful vigor and zest they were written with. I must say, that with every Prague Chamber Orchestra's listening, this Eastern European ensemble rises even higher in my book, precision, boldness and extreme clarity are only three of their hallmarks of excellence. Like their big brothers, in the Prague Philharmonic, as heard in Neumann's wonderful Dvorak cycle, these men and women of that notable Slavic capital manage with each release, to outdo themselves somehow. It seems that there's nothing, or no one they cannot play as their own----WOW!!How I wish they would tour our West coast home by visiting Seattle---What a treat!! Along with the British giants, the English Chamber orch., the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields, the London based early music groups, and those Scottish Chamber members, are veritable wizards in just abut anything they tackle. I am still searching for the CD back up of Tchaikovsky's "Andante cantabile," with the original string group's arrangement, made by the composer. I own it on LP, but would trade up for a good CD copy of it. Anybody know WHERE I can find one????The great and fun thing about sets like this one, is that, one can play ANY disk, blindfolded and enjoy the high quality of the genius that was Amadeus, regardless of the numbered work. He composed as a gifted visitor from the heavens right from childhood, on up to his early and terribly pre-mature death at age 31.What could he have written IF he had lived another 30-40 years??? Debate has raged on for decades, however, If, and I do mean IF, he was suffering from some added mental disorder, aside from his likely end stage renal disease that claimed his life, he may have not continued to write in the light of perfection, as he was doing in the late 1780's, when he penned his powerful "Requiem," K.626. But, we will never know for sure. He did, however, leave us with over 600 published masterpieces, and be they youthful or seasoned these Czech musicians under Sir Charles hit the target square in the center of the "bull's eye". And, for an absurdly low price of just under $22.00, this collection can be yours to enjoy for a lifetime. Hint; Hint: it is not too early to send off your "Dear Santa," letter.All of my very best wishes to you, all, and much happy listening, as well. God bless all of you, Tony.A! M! D! G! ! !

Creds: I'm an experienced but amateur listener.These recordings were made in the 1980s but the sound is fine. Mackerras and Prague Chamber are clean and crisp. The sound is neither "period authentic" nor modern full-orchestra big, it's wonderful. These are the only performances I've ever heard of the first 20 or so symphonies. I'm glad to have them and will enjoy hearing them any time. I don't think that I'll need another set of all of them.I have many recordings of the "big" Mozart symphonies and these hold their own with the best. I have nothing but good to say about this set. There are a couple early symphonies split between two CDs and the box is 10 sleeved cardboard jackets but that's OK for me. The notes are interesting. My impression of the performances: energetic, mainstream, well tempoed and exciting.

for me, I purchased this set as an update to my long-held set my Neville Marriner. The latter were recorded before the digital era and the sound is variable. I will continue to keep them as the standard for Mozart Symphonies, but I wanted a new version (in addition to the fact that, sadly, one of my Marriner disks was stolen out of an apartment along with about $5,000 worth of equipment).The late Maestro Mackerrras was a a first-rate musician who did not have quite the PR machine of his contemporaries but gave wonderful service to classical music over a long career. My first recording of his was a Grieg/Sibelius album back in the RCA "Living Stereo" era. He was also early with a Messiah on EMI "in the original style" (with scaled-down forces) but with modern instruments ca. 1970. His Beethoven Symphony cycle on EMI tries to keep up with Ludwig's metronome markings and, thereby, comes out quite differently than the usual set. Mackerras was a scholar but he was not pedantic.Telarc set the standard for classical digital recording early on with the work of Jack Renner before the CD was even introduced. This set does not have "some" of the early Telarc hallmarks but, then, the music is Mozart. The orchestral sound is smooth in the strings and well-articulated in the cellos and basses. I do not find the "echo" to be a big deal. On the contrary, I can imagine the Prague Chamber Orchestra playing in venues that Mozart himself might have known.I am very satisfied with this set. Tempos are crisp and it all sounds wonderful in a home theater, a traditional two-speaker (medium high end) stereo, or on my portable devices (earphones or car stereo). The price is right for this combined Telarc collection. Spoil yourself -- buy it then sit back and relax with Wolfgang -- it's a highly civilized way to spend a Sunday afternoon :)