tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post1989906338092778453..comments2023-11-03T11:37:13.579-04:00Comments on Something Old, Nothing New: Wolfgang!Jaime J. Weinmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-8424446515031501102007-02-03T16:46:00.000-05:002007-02-03T16:46:00.000-05:00Well, I certainly like the conductors you mention ...Well, I certainly like the conductors you mention (though I'm not as wild about Kleiber's <I>Figaro</I> as some, and much as I like Mackerras's conducting of Mozart, I think his Mozart symphonies are a bit disappointing). I would add Klemperer, whose Mozart is admittedly also kind of nasty, and of course as I said above, I think Peter Maag's Mozart is an all-time classic.Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-19732491913791798742007-02-03T12:20:00.000-05:002007-02-03T12:20:00.000-05:00I heard the first movement of this 'Jupiter' on th...I heard the first movement of this 'Jupiter' on the radio this morning and agree on one thing - it's Mozart for those who dislike Mozart.<br /><br />What do you, or does anyone, have against subtlety, grace, charm, elegance... ? <br /><br />Because Mozart DOES have all of these qualities, and to deny them seems to me a diminshment of his creations. <br /><br />Just like you feel that to deny Mozart brilliance and force is a diminishment...<br /><br />(But 'violence' - what's desirable about that?)<br /><br />Quite a few pieces of Mozart are even pretty! Quelle horreur!<br /><br />I also think it is extremely misleading to reduce Mozart interpretations to one dimension with the 'bad old guys' like Walter at one end and Jacobs at the other.<br /><br />Why can't one have both elegance, subtlety, brilliance AND forcefulness? For example Charles Mackerras, Erich Kleiber, Anthony Collins, Trever Pinnock, and half a dozen others one could mention.<br /><br />Check out what a 'Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster' is: for my money, Jacobs gives us a plain brick without the gold, let alone slices of lemon...<br /><br />On the timpani - of course they have to be heard. It doesn't follow that they must dominate every other instrument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-34861821388945715342007-01-18T17:11:00.000-05:002007-01-18T17:11:00.000-05:00Rereading some of your previous posts on Mozart, I...Rereading some of your previous posts on Mozart, I think I see where you're coming from -- you're not that impressed by little Wolfgang the prodigy, believing he had to sweat and strain as much as any ordinary mortal before he became truly great. <br /><br />Can't argue with that, and it's a welcome tonic to <i>Amadeus</i>'s puerile notion of a transcendent soul transcribing music dictated by God.<br /><br />And many thanks for the clarification re the Haffner(s) -- glad to see it wasn't just me...Canzler Tree Serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11171445568432691562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-78617679905709572152007-01-17T16:28:00.000-05:002007-01-17T16:28:00.000-05:00Re the "Haffner" serenade: I don't think there is ...Re the "Haffner" serenade: I don't think there is any actual connection between the serenade and the symphony, except for the nickname.<br /><br />Mozart sometimes adapted his serenades for symphony orchestras and called them "symphonies," and I think the Haffner serenade was one of those. So that's the "symphony" that's based on the serenade, but not the actual Haffner symphony.<br /><br />Confusing, isn't it?Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-63104205414140998832007-01-17T16:25:00.000-05:002007-01-17T16:25:00.000-05:00Love your blog, but do I detect a faint dissing of...<I>Love your blog, but do I detect a faint dissing of Amadeus (the man, not the mediocre movie) every now and then? </I><br /><br />Wow -- I sure don't think so. I admit I do dis the way Mozart's music is often performed (charming, graceful, lightweight). But I'm a huge, huge fan of his late symphonies, operas, concertos, serenades and so on.Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-40572744589720909172007-01-17T15:53:00.000-05:002007-01-17T15:53:00.000-05:00Love your blog, but do I detect a faint dissing of...Love your blog, but do I detect a faint dissing of Amadeus (the man, not the mediocre movie) every now and then? <br /><br />To each his own, I guess; personally I can't see life without at least a weekly mood-booster shot of the "Haffner Symphony". <br /><br />Speaking of which, perhaps you can help me understand something that's been a baffler for years: I keep reading that Mozart, squeezed by a deadline, tarted up the "Haffner Serenade" a mite and pawned it off as his 35th symphony. But I just don't hear that many similarities between the two works (okay, NO similarities, when you come right down to it.)<br /><br />Could you possibly point out which movement of the symphony was extracted from what movement of the serenade -- and how the music might've been changed to throw off so admittedly non-expert an ear as mine?Canzler Tree Serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11171445568432691562noreply@blogger.com