Mozart Symphonies Box Set

[B. Goren.]

Dear friends,

If you are familiar with these sets, which one do you recommend?

Thank you in advance.

[Berthold]

Absolutly both! I have them both and I like them 

 

[Guy Berger]

Pinnock is great!

[mikeweil]

Why not Hogwood? Found him more charming than Pinnock, and more complete.

Edited May 26, 2017 by mikeweil

[Larry Kart]

Don't know the Pinnock, but why the heck would anyone want Hogwood? I'd go for Karl Bohm (and at about $3.50/disc):

https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Symphonies-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000G7599Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1495826482&sr=1-1&keywords=mozart+symphonies++bohm

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Larry Kart said:

Don't know the Pinnock, but why the heck would anyone want Hogwood? I'd go for Karl Bohm (and at about $3.50/disc):

https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Symphonies-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000G7599Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1495826482&sr=1-1&keywords=mozart+symphonies++bohm

Probably of surprise (to you), but I would see both Hogwood and Kark Böhm as viable options ....

[Peter Friedman]

Given the two options presented, I would definitely go for the set by Karl Bohm.

Though my preference would be for the Bruno Walter Sony box. It has 9 of the best symphonies as well as the Requiem and violin concertos No. 3 & No.4.

 

[Guy Berger]

6 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Why not Hogwood? Found him more charming than Pinnock, and more complete.

Isn't this "completeness" a function of the inclusion of spuriously-attributed works?

As an aside, I'm not really sure anybody genuinely *needs* a "complete Mozart symphonies" cycle.  You certainly need the final 6 symphonies (35-41), should probably hear the 4 previous ones (31-34), and there are some genuine gems among the Salzburg symphonies (#29 is a personal favorite).  Everything with an Kochel catalogue number below 100 is skippable.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Guy Berger

[mikeweil]

AFAIK the Hogwood recording was prepared with thorough musicological assistance and if there were any doubts about attribution it was mentioned in the elaborate commentary.

I'm not a fan of that "do you need this or that work" attitude. The early works give insight into his development as a young composer and show how deeply he was rooted in the music of his tiime and not born a genius. But each to his own.

[mjzee]

I got this a few years ago on sale; I think it was $1.00 to download the whole thing.  Now it's $8.99:

Of course, the download had no liner notes.  I found this Wikipedia page to be helpful; it also lists which symphonies are "spurious": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symphonies_by_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart

[Chuck Nessa]

I settled on the Pinnock box and the hundreds of other Mozart symphonies in my collection. I am done.

FWIW, much of the Vox collections is worthy.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Chuck Nessa

[David Ayers]

This is what streaming is for, isn't it?

 

Have this one on me:

 

 

[soulpope]

Aside of Böhm and Hogwood my preference is with Josef Krips and the Concertgebouw Orchestra - "only" symphonies 21-41 but glorious performances for sure .... 

Edited May 27, 2017 by soulpope

[David Ayers]

 

[David Ayers]

The last person I heard conducting this was Gergiev, surprisingly enough. Followed by Shostakovich 4, which just obliterated what had gone before. Anyway this is Bohm. 

 

 

[soulpope]

13 hours ago, mikeweil said:

AFAIK the Hogwood recording was prepared with thorough musicological assistance and if there were any doubts about attribution it was mentioned in the elaborate commentary.

These insightful recordings are revelations .... and definitely worth exploring ....

[B. Goren.]

Thank you all for your recommendations and comments.

[crisp]

I bought the Bohm box because at the time it was the only complete symphonies I could find that wasn't on period instruments. I'm very pleased with it.

[David Ayers]

I go to hear the local period groups from time to time - OAE, AAM, and the Arts Florissants visit regularly - but...

Edited May 29, 2017 by David Ayers

[psu_13]

IME the Bohm is solid. If you can find the Beecham recordings of the late symphonies they are also sublime. There is also a set of the later symphonies by Jane Glover which is very nice.

 

[Larry Kart]

 When it comes to some of the late symphonies, I prefer Britten (snap up the set depicted below if you can) and Klemperer, but Bohm works for me overall and isn't far behind in any. I'm not an anti HIP person per se but have yet to hear any symphonic HIP Mozart that wasn't caught up in getting the instrumental timbres right (or "right" and/or 'authentic") to the neglect of other no less, or more, important musical matters. Also, when when we get to Mozart I'm no longer sure that, with some exceptions (e.g. the basset clarinet in the clarinet concerto, natural horn in the horn concerti perhaps), timbral authenticity is as big a deal as it arguably is in, say, Vivaldi.

[crisp]

4 hours ago, David Ayers said:

I go to hear the local period groups from time to time - OAE, AAM, and the Arts Florissants visit regularly - but...

Exactly. That was my thinking.

[Peter Friedman]

For the late symphonies I also like Szell/ Cleveland, and agree that Klemperer and Glover do a very good job as well.

With limited exceptions (such as Quatuor Mosaique), I am not a fan of HIP other than for Baroque music. 

[mikeweil]

3 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

..... but have yet to hear any symphonic HIP Mozart that wasn't caught up in getting the instrumental timbres right (or "right" and/or 'authentic") to the neglect of other no less, or more, important musical matters. Also, when when we get to Mozart I'm no longer sure that, with some exceptions (e.g. the basset clarinet in the clarinet concerto, natural horn in the horn concerti perhaps), timbral authenticity is as big a deal as it arguably is in, say, Vivaldi.

 

I know what you want to say. I think that was a necessary phase HIP had to go through. The fact that younger conductors prefer a leaner sound and brighter tempos shows that it pointed in the right direction. To me timbre is just as important as all other parameters. and, of course, a great reading should get it all right, taste not withstanding.  

[Chuck Nessa]

For some reason Hogwood repelled me in Mozart.