Sir Neville Marriner, ASMF - W.A. Mozart: Youth Symphonies, Vol. 1 (2003) MCH SACD ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This first volume containing the Symphony in G, and the Symphonies Nos. 7a, 12, and 18. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

The sound, which Philips recorded at Brent Town Hall, Wembly, London in 1972 and 1973, is big and warm and a tad soft in the midrange, with traces of hardness at times in the treble, nevertheless providing the relatively small ensemble with a rather larger size than their numbers would admit; nonetheless, the audio seems entirely appropriate. This is not a period-instruments group, after all, and the sound seems properly traditional. Indeed, in the two-channel SACD mode to which I listened, I found the sound quite pleasing. It's maybe not entirely of audiophile quality, but it's reasonably natural and well defined.

Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields recorded Mozart's early symphonies in 1972-1973 for release in the quadraphonic format by Philips. Though that technology quickly faded, the multichannel recording process has at last come of age with the appearance of the Super Audio CD, and Marriner's vintage four-channel recordings sound terrific in this 2003 reissue. Of course, Mozart's youthful, lightweight symphonies may not be ideal pieces for demonstration purposes – for depth of textures and richer orchestration, the later symphonies would be preferable – but these works are still effective for their clear lines and transparent sections, and sound surprisingly vivid in the DSD remastering. Marriner and the Academy play modern instruments, though their inclusion of a harpsichord continuo, their immaculate execution in the strings, and their fresh woodwind colors come close to creating an authentic period sound. This disc is the first in a four-volume reissue of Marriner's early Mozart recordings, which covers a total of 19 symphonies. Thanks to PentaTone's polished remastering, there is no tape hiss, just clean and natural sound quality.

Tracklist:

01. Symphony No.7a In G, K.45a "Alte Lambacher" - I. Allegro maestoso
02. Symphony No.7a In G, K.45a "Alte Lambacher" - II. Andante
03. Symphony No.7a In G, K.45a "Alte Lambacher" - III. Presto
04. Symphony In G, KV deest "Neue Lambacher" - I. Allegro
05. Symphony In G, KV deest "Neue Lambacher" - II. Andante un poco allegretto
06. Symphony In G, KV deest "Neue Lambacher" - III. Menuetto
07. Symphony In G, KV deest "Neue Lambacher" - IV. Allegro
08. Symphony No.12 In G, KV 110/75b - I. Allegro
09. Symphony No.12 In G, KV 110/75b - II. Andante
10. Symphony No.12 In G, KV 110/75b - III. Menuetto
11. Symphony No.12 In G, KV 110/75b - IV. Allegro
12. Symphony No.18 In F, KV 130 - I. Allegro
13. Symphony No.18 In F, KV 130 - II. Andante grazioso
14. Symphony No.18 In F, KV 130 - III. Menuetto
15. Symphony No.18 In F, KV 130 - IV. Allegro molto

Produced by Wilhelm Hellweg. Original Quadrophonic Recording by Philips Classics.
Recorded in Decenber 1972 (7a & KV deest) and in September 1973 (Sym. 12 & 18) at Brent Town Hall, Wembley, London.
Remastered by Polyhymnia International for Pentatone in Baarn, The Netherlands.


Thanks to the Original ripper!
Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 2,79 GB
>