W.A. MOZART: Flute Concerto in G Major KV 313 – Katthinka Pasveer, flute/ Berlin Radio Sym. Orch./ Karlheinz Stockhausen (1983); LEOPOLD MOZART: Sinfonia Di Caccia in G Major for 4 horns, strings, timpani and basso continuo; Sinfonia Di Camera in D Major for 4 horns, violins, timpani and basso continuo – Hermann Baumann/Christoph Kobler/Mahir Cakar/Jean-Pierre LePetit/ Concerto Amsterdam/ Jaap Schroder (1973) – TopMusic Gold UQCD1074, 56:30 ****:
This is a standard CD, though it is ultra-high quality, gold, and mastered with the highest-end gear, such as the SADIE DSD mastering equipment. And unlike most gold CDs, I find the disc is entirely opaque when held to the light, which seems to lend believability to the allegation that the pits are more accurate than on an aluminum CD. However, it means this review must be in our reissue classical CD section rather than the hi-res section.
The original recordings are far from new, but they are given first-rate sonics by the remastering process. It is most surprising to find Stockhausen as the conductor of the Mozart Flute Concerto. I couldn’t find the original CD with these selections, but there is an Arts CD (430492) with the same four horn soloists and the Concerto Amsterdam, though in different Leopold Mozart concertos plus three other horn concertos. All four horn players here are terrific virtuosi – not a sour note in the bunch, and some sizable varieties of dynamics being expressed as well.
Not quite sure why this particular music was chosen for the primarily Asian market audience by TopMusic, and of course the price of the CD (which I don’t know) would be a factor, but this is most impressive sonically as well as musically.
—John Sunier
L’ Anthologie Sonore Vol. 1 – Mozart, Rameau, Milan, Ortiz, Purcell, Dalayrac, Janequin – Yves St-Laurent
The first volume in a sweeping anthology of music, mid-century recordings
