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Delightful recordings with the London Philharmonic
Notes on the recording: When reviewing the original issue for The Gramophone in October 1954, M.M. wrote:
What a shame M.M. did not have access to the XR remastered version of the recording! The sound from this HMV LP was originally flat and uninvolving - first impressions were indeed very disappointing. But what we know now is how much some early LP recordings suffered in the accurate reproduction of an even and realistic-sounding frequency response. After all this is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (although billed as the Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra) - they should sound a lot better than the LP would have you believe! Thankfully our XR remastering process soon rectified this, and the full orchestra was allowed to shine at last! The two recordings were also quite different in tone, with the Haydn both heavier in the bass and shriller in the treble than the Mozart. Again, we've been able to even this discrepancy out in the remastering of this recording. So what's it like? Well it's certainly interesting. Vittorio Gui, musical director at Glyndebourne between 1952 and 1963, made very few straight orchestral recordings indeed, concentrating instead on the operatic repertoire with which he was most associated. And to modern ears this is a rather large orchestra to be playing this repertoire. That said, it's an enjoyable and (once corrected, and especially in Ambient Stereo) well-made recording - take a listen to our sample movement above; if you like this you're bound to like the rest of this recording!
Notes on the 24-bit download: Please see this page for test files and further information regarding this format. Although restoration work is done at a sample rate of 44.1kHz, we have upsampled the final 24-bit master to 48kHz for additional replay compatibility of our FLAC download. Our twenty-four bit FLAC downloads can be replayed in full quality using a standard DVD video player, a DVD writer and an inexpensive piece of PC software - see here for more information about replay from Video DVD discs.
Vittorio Gui biographical notes from Wikipedia
Vittorio Gui (born 14 September 1885 in Rome; died 16 October 1975 in Florence) was an Italian conductor and composer. In 1933 Bruno Walter invited him to be guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival. His 1949 recording of Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera has been reissued on CD, as has his 1950 performance of Wagner's Parsifal with Maria Callas. His superb 1962 Abbey Road Studio-1 stereo recording by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) has been released on the Great Recordings of the Century by EMI (5 67765 2). There is also a brilliantly lively recording of Le Nozze di Figaro from Glyndebourne on EMI Classics (Gemini), with the superb Sena Jurinac as Contessa.
Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Gui
Mozart - Symphony No. 39 musical notes from Wikipedia
The Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed 26 June, 1788.
Composition and premiere The 39th Symphony is the first of a set of three (his last symphonies) that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. No. 40 was completed 25 July and No. 41 10 August. Around the same time, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E and C major, his sonate facile, and a violin sonatina. Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein has suggested that Mozart took Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 26, in the same key, as a model. It seems to be impossible to determine the date of the premiere of the 39th Symphony on the basis of currently available evidence; in fact, it cannot be established whether the symphony was ever performed in the composer's lifetime. According to Deutsch (1965), around the time Mozart wrote the work, he was preparing to hold a series of "Concerts in the Casino", in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest. In addition, in the period up to the end of his life, Mozart participated in various other concerts whose program included an unidentified symphony; these also could have been the occasion of the premiere of the 39th (for details, see Symphony No. 40 (Mozart) at Wikipedia). In modern times, the work is part of the core symphonic repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded.
Instrumentation and movements The symphony is scored for flute, pairs of clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings, and consists of four movements:
The first movement opens with a majestic introduction with fanfares heard in the brass section. This is followed by an Allegro in sonata form, though while several features - the loud outburst following the soft opening, for instance - connect it with the galant school that influences the earliest of his symphonies. The independence of the winds and greater interplay of the parts in general, and the fact that the second theme group in those earlier symphonies was (to paraphrase Alfred Einstein) practically always completely trivial, which is not the case here, combine with the second group which contains several themes, including a particularly felicitous "walking theme". These are just a very few of the points that distinguish this movement from those works, from which it has more differences than similarities. The slow movement, in abridged sonata form, i.e. no development section, starts quietly in the strings and expands into the rest of the orchestra. Quiet main material and energetic, somewhat agitated transitions characterize this movement. Comparison with the fifth symphony of Franz Schubert suggests the latter may have had this work at the back of his mind. The work has a very interesting minuet and trio. The trio is an Austrian folk dance called a "ländler" and features a clarinet solo. The forceful Menuetto is set off by the trio's unusual tint of the second clarinet playing arpeggios in its low (chalumeau) register. The finale is another sonata form whose main theme, like that of the later string quintet in D, is mostly a scale, here ascending and descending. The development section is dramatic; there is no coda, but both the exposition, and the development through the end of the recapitulation, are requested to be and often are, repeated.
Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._39_(Mozart)
Haydn - Symphony No. 95 musical notes from Wikipedia
The Symphony No. 95 in C minor (Hoboken 1/95) is the third of the so-called twelve London symphonies (numbers 93-104) written by Joseph Haydn. It is the only one of the twelve London symphonies in a minor key. It was completed in 1791 as one of the set of symphonies composed for his first trip to London. It was first performed at the Hanover Square Rooms in London during the season of 1791; the exact date of the premiere is unknown. The work is in standard four movement form and scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
It is the only one of the London Symphonies that does not begin with a slow introduction to the first movement. The trio of the minuet is a solo for the cello.
Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._95_(Haydn)
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