Cut from the Original EMI Master Tapes at Abbey Road Studios!
Originally issued with the boxed set of all the late Mozart Symphonies, these recordings of Symphony No.40 in G minor, K550 and Symphony No.41 in C, K551 ‘Jupiter’ are generally considered to be the most successful Herbert Von Karajan made of these works. And although it is still very much Mozart in the Grand Manner, the performances manage to combine a richness and beauty of sound with vigorous rhythmic detail, superbly caught by the EMI engineers!
Cut at Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo analogue master tapes with the Neumann VMS82 lathe fed an analogue pre-cut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional ‘advance’ playback head, making the cut a totally analogue process.
“There is surely no doubt about Karajan’s quality as a Mozartian; if there is, these performances should dispel them. First of all, there is gusto in plenty, this is no ‘eighteenth-century drawing room’ approach to Mozart; but since the orchestra 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. No.40 is not as dark as some conductors make it and beautifully played. No.41 is splendid throughout, with really superb playing of the great finale.” Original Gramophone Review/Trevor Harvey (1971) |