(Note - if you've clicked straight to the last page of this thread, this is the second of two posts I've made bringing it back to the front pate.)



The second set I want to review (more briefly this time) is the Mackerras Clemenza di Tito as I said to Fredrik that I would give it another listen before giving it an unqualified recommendation (this, in part, because I wanted to make sure my appreciation wasn't entirely coloured by having been at the excellent concert performance at last summer's festival).

I've said good things earlier in this thread about Mackerras as a Mozartian, and this set only helps to confirm that. As mentioned in reference to their piano concertos, Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra are a wonderful combination, indeed, in many ways one wishes he had done the Mozart symphonies with them instead of the Prague CO. Anyway, I came home on Monday after something of a tiring day at work and felt the urge to spin some Mozart and this seemed as good a time as any for Clemenza. From the electrifying opening of the overture Mackerras had me hooked and feeling much better.

I'm told that the drawback with this work is that the continuo is not by Mozart, but Mackerras has apparently cut it back to the bare minimum for this recording. I must say that what is left doesn't seem to me to be debilitatingly poor, though it does feel second rate next to Mozart's own wonderful writing for the arias. And wonderful they are, and very well sung. Even Rainer Trost (about whom I had doubts in the concert) sounds very good. Kozena is wonderful in the title role, and Christine Rice is a superb Annio. We also have Lisa Milne and John Relyea.

I summary, I have no difficulty in recommending this to anyone who is new to the work. As to how it stacks up against the competition, it is impossible for me to judge since this is my only recording: there may well be more out there, but this disc doesn't leave me wanting to go looking for it.

regards, Tam

Thanks, Tam, for bumping this thread back up; saves me having to search for it.

I have since received and listened to Anne-Sophie Mutter's Mozart violin concertos and I like the recordings very well. As has been said of her other offerings in recent years, her interpretations are often quite different from the main stream, and definitely different than her earlier performances with Herbert von Karajan. All in all, I find her new work refreshing. She may have laid it on a little heavy with the photos this time, however.



Norman

Darn, can't seem to get this link to photo URL thing down.

Norman

Norman,

Right click on the image in question (assuming it's on the web somewhere) and select the option closest to 'copy image address to clipboard' - it's important what you get is the image address. The in your post you write {img}http://www.image.com/photo.jpg{/img} where the address is that of the image in question (which you can put in by doing edit-paste) and where the {} are replaced by [].

regards, Tam

Tam

Without trying to appear tendentious, I must say that I don't think that La Clemenza di Tito deserves a place anywhere near Mozart's four unarguably great operas: Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi and Zauberfloete.

Indeed, if I had to add a fifth to the list, it would be Die Entfuehrung. To my ears, not even the genius of Mozart could kick the dull dog that is 'opera seria' into life.

I'd suggest that any newcomer to Mozart, having got the Piano Concertos, the late Symponies and the four operas named above, would be far better advised to look to the mature String Quartets, the String Quintets and the Piano Sonatas, before going near Tito.

Just my opinion, of course.

Graham

Graham,

I think you're probably right - it isn't quite on a par with the four operas you mention, but there is some stunning music in there and when it is well played it's wonderful. I much prefer it to, say, Idemeneo. That said, if I had to choose between having it and the sonatas in my collection I'd choose the latter without even thinking about it. I don't know about the quartets, but then I don't know them well enough (and really ought to develop my cd collection in that area - as in so many others).

regards, Tam

Tam

Please just don't mention Idomeneo! Three (or more) of the longest hours of my life were spent sitting through the Glyndebourne Touring Opera's production of Idomeneo in Guildford (or was it Woking - I've tried to erase all vestiges from my mind) a couple of years back. Not even the fact that some idiot director had designed the stage to appear as a woman's pudenda could hold my interest, although I had to laugh when my chum, slightly slower on the uptake, guffawed some 50 mins into the performance and informed me that the stage set was a giant f*nny!

I've given recommendations for the String Quartets and the Quintets above. Do try to hear them. Among Mozart's greatest works, in my view. Oh, and there's a very fine recording of Mozart's greatest Quintets, K515 and K516 by the Allegris on Naim's very own label.

All best wishes.

Graham

Tam,

Thanks very much. I tried right clicking, opened the image in a new window, then cut/pasted the URL in the green thingy second from the right in the tool bar for the post a reply window. Here goes:

[img]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000AD1IQ2/ref=dp_image_0/102-6631478-6200946?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174&s=classical[img]

I'm not a tech idiot, really.

Norman

Norman

I don't even try!

Graham

Norman,

Almost right, the final bit should read /img not just img.

regards, Tam

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
I've given recommendations for the String Quartets and the Quintets above. Do try to hear them. Among Mozart's greatest works, in my view. Oh, and there's a very fine recording of Mozart's greatest Quintets, K515 and K516 by the Allegris on Naim's very own label.

Thanks for those.

Out of interest do you (or, for that matter anyone else) know the Amadeus QT's stereo cycle (I think dating from the 60s), I saw it half-price in my local cd shop the other day and was more than a little tempted.

regards, Tam

Tam

I don't know the Amadeus cycle, although I recall that Gramophone and Penguin always used to prefer the Quartetto Italiano for the complete set.

That said, the consensus is that you really need only the mature quartets, Nos 14 to 23. I've just had a quick look on www.amazon.de, and see that new copies of the Alban Berg's 4CD Teldec set are available at around the €18 mark (ex postage). I'd pile in, if I were you!

Graham

One more time:

OK, Graham. I'm with you.

Norman

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmoliu:
One more time:

Ah, I see what it is, you haven't got the address right. When you click to see a larger image, you're just getting another page that has the image on it, not the image itself. But Graham is right, it's easier not to bother!

regards, Tam

Tam,

So where did you go to grab the correct URL?

Norman

I right-clicked on the photo and selected 'copy image address to clipboard'. That said, it may be different on a pc.

regards, Tam

No such choice on PC. The closest I get is "Open Link" and "Open Link in New Window", both of which I have tried. I give up. Probably just as well, as access to a new toy would likely only be a distraction.

Thanks Tam,

Norman

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmoliu:
Probably just as well, as access to a new toy would likely only be a distraction.

Thanks Tam,

Norman

True. You're welcome. Solution - just listen to some music instead.


So, to get back on topic, does nobody else have any thoughts on direction from the piano, versus having a conductor, as I mentioned in my post on the Uchida concerto series.

regards, Tam