Mozart: Symphonies 35-36, 38-41 (Remastered - Hybrid SACD)

Herbert von Karajan, the emblematic conductor of the post-war years, did not record Mozart’s final six symphonies as a group until September 1970 – in EMI sessions presided over by French producer Michel Glotz, a close friend and colleague. There are some subtle inflections to the Karajan-Berlin sound here, thanks to the work of balance engineer Wolfgang Gülich: we hear the Philharmoniker usual silken texture, wonderfully enveloping and accomplished, but here it is more luminous, less sombre and untamed than in the DG recordings. This is nonetheless a fully symphonic Mozart, not deprived of urgency, but with a serious-minded and dignified radiance. Supple and organic, the phrases are steeped in the legato for which Karajan was famed (and which once earned him the nickname of ‘Herr mit Bindung’ from his musicians). His introductions are solemn and noble (Nos. 36 and 39), his Andantes and Adagios take a metaphysical turn and his Menuettos are envisaged almost as interludes – to astonishing effect in Symphony No. 36. It is in the finales (the ‘Haffner’, G minor and ‘Jupiter’) that the feline and sumptuously shaped Karajan is at his most irresistible and – not to put too fine a point on it – sexy.

These recordings have just been remastered in HD 192/24 from the original tapes for this SACD release.

“There is surely no doubt about Karajan’s quality as a Mozartian ... Karajan never indulges in eccentricities or would-be clever points of interpretation ... There is gusto in plenty ... but since this is the Berlin Philharmonic there is never any exuberance conveyed at the expense of fine orchestral playing. At the same time, there is plenty of tender affection ... [These are] performances for which I have the highest admiration.” Gramophone