Review: Bruno Walter's Iconic Rematered Stereo Mozart Re-boxed

[@jaystone4816]

Just listened to Symphony 41 and now it's my favorite recording of this symphony. Incredible!

[@mickeytheviewmoo]

His Haffner is a thing of beauty. A welcome edition and it's all good.

[@danielemastrangelo8016]

Speaking about the birth of a performance, the rehearsal's recording of the “Linz”, it will be nice to have some reviews of this special kind of recordings, the rehearsals one, by any conductor or other sort of interpreter.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

As I have the Walter Big Box, I'm good. All of this is absolutely sublime.

[@mehmeh217]

I would love to hear your top 10 line-guy conductors, and your top 10 chord guy conductors.

[@fuvbk6230]

Top 10 Line Recordings vs. top 10 cord recordings ;=)

[@Iispj]

Glad I got this box

[@williamfredscott6904]

Where are the Requiem and the arias with Steber?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They aren't stereo.

[@wdashwor]

Nice to see this set. I love Walter's Mozart; classic, warm performances. Too bad the Linz rehearsal is not included. I love listening to the recordings of Walter rehearsing (including the Mahler and Beethoven ones); it's fascinating to hear his methods for getting the sound he wanted.

[@m.peeters5753]

Perhaps this has been explained in another video, but where does Walter's Haydn (CD number 6 in this box) fall short?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I think I do describe it in the video--at least a bit. Too soft-edged, a touch sluggish...

[@m.peeters5753]

Thanks!

[@markfarrington5183]

Funny how Bernstein was the reverse of Walter: one of the GREAT Haydn conductors, but not so much with .Mozart.

[@SHawk48]

It would be interesting to have a video on the musical differences between Mozart and Haydn (sort of in the style of the Haydn Crusade). I turned on the radio recently (WFMT in Chicago) and heard a symphony that sort of sounded like Haydn, but I knew (without being able to specify why) it wasn't really. It turned out to be early Mozart! Mozart's early symphonies are usually disparaged. But if you listen to a lot of mid-18th century symphonies (as I do; see Naxos's 18th C symphony series and Chandos's Contemporaries of Mozart series) they are really pretty comparable and quite enjoyable.

[@bbailey7818]

As much as I enjoy his Mozart, I do miss the exposition repeats when he skips them which he almost invariably does. OTH, the contemporary fashion of observing development and recap repeats just before a coda can be deadly, so maybe I'll take the former fault over the latter.

[@jensguldalrasmussen6446]

Maybe, it's, after all, not an overwhelming surprise, that the "Birth of a Performance" rehearsal-sequences aren't released in a box set of Stereo-performances, as they stem from 1955, where stereo hadn't yet really caught on with Columbia, if my memory doesn't elude me completely?! Though, actually it's sad, they aren't included, as they are both a peak into the magician's workshed and an incomparable masterclass on performing both Mozart and music as such. Listen fx to how Walter coaxes the orchestra into rhytmic precision and exactitude in those first opening figures in the 1st movement (Baam-off. Ba-daam-off . Ba-daam-off ... and so forth) by making the musicians repeat those first few bars again and again untill they play exactly as he wants them to. Walter is the epithome of urbane politeness, though one is never in doubt about the iron(willed) fist that hides within the elegant, soft glove. I've, actually, never heard that introduction played as precise as by Walter. George Szell never recorded the Linz symphony - and even though he, allegedly, expressed himself with more than slight disdain, when asked what he thought of Walter's Mozart ("I prefer not to pour chocolate sauce over my aspargus"...or something to that effect), I'm convinced that his performance of the introduction to the Linz would have sounded much like Walter's. Other features of Walter's Mozart are also revealed in the rehearsal-sequences, as fx his emphasis on contrast between juxtaposed, strongly marked, rhytmic incisive paragraphs and more melodic, cantabile ones ("Siiiing, siiing"). One of my friends once expressed his enthusiasm over Mozart by calling him a genius. I had to correct him: "Verdi is a genius. Mozart is God!" - and Walter is his prophet!

[@jfddoc]

How many great Mozart and Haydn conductors are there? All I can think of is George Szell.

[@carlosmarrero4302]

Klemperer

[@TheCastlepoet]

Beecham

[@ericbecquart]

Krips

[@robhaynes4410]

It might be interesting to do a small series of composers who are thought of in pairs (Mozart/Haydn, Bruckner/Mahlery, Verdi/Puccini, Debussy/Ravel, et al.) & consider which conductors were excellent in both, sucked in one or the other, skipped one altogether, & the why of it all. For instance, Haitink excelled at both Ravel & Debussy. Ozawa excelled in Ravel, but as good as ignored Debussy. Denève did amazing Debussy, but his Ravel is pretty mediocre. That sorta thing.

[@colinmaynard2879]

Rematered? Spellchecker still on vacation? Who did he mate with the first time around?

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

Dear Dave, I have always considered his Columbia Mozart recordings too romantic oriented. In his Columbia Symphony period, he achieved a good balance of melody and drama, but for me too much at the cost of the melody. Walter’s earliest recordings of Mozart symphonies are his best.

[@grantparsons6205]

Yes I find same with his Brahms. He was a swift fiery conductor in his prime.

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

@ yes.. but with brahms a touch of romanticism is not a scandal