Of Mozart's 41 official symphonies, the last six (with the exception of No. 37) have become the best known. Most were given nicknames like Jupiter, Prager or, like the Haffner and Linzer Symphony recorded on this CD, depending on their character, place of origin or relationship to a particular person. Mozart's Salzburg symphonies are much less well known except for a few. And that's a shame. What
… this album makes clear is that Mozart's last Salzburg symphony (No. 34) is stylistically seamless with the subsequent symphonies composed in Mozart's Viennese era (Nos. 35 and 36). No wonder, since the pieces were created in a period of barely three years. What is striking about this last Salzburg symphony is the sometimes considerably independent role of the woodwinds (one of Mozart's stylistic usp's). The numerous trumpet fanfares (along with the timpani) also stand out and point forward to the later Linzer and Jupiter Symphonies. Yet there is also a striking difference. Symphony No. 34 is the only one from Mozart's later symphonic output, apart from the Prager Symphony, without a Minuet. Some sketches are known, but Mozart never completed this movement. Often the Minuet in C, KV 409 is associated with Symphony No. 34. However, the scoring argues against this approach. Unlike the symphony, Mozart prescribes two flutes in the minuet. A wise choice, then, to place the minuet after the symphony on the CD. Otherwise, this recording grosses in exuberant playing by the Philharmonia Orchestra. It makes for a surprising, if not renewed, introduction to Mozart's, forward, "Salzburg" Symphony in combination with the Haffner and Linzer Symphonies. (JWvR)more
