Filmed mainly in Vienna’s splendid “Musikvereinssaal,” the Mozart symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the world’s foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. “Thanks to Bruno Walter’s exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart’s works, I grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart.” (Karl Böhm) After his trip to Paris in 1778, Mozart spent only two and a half more years in Salzburg before leaving the service of the hated Prince Archbishop forever. During this period, his self-confidence seems to have grown considerably, if we are to judge from the bold, ambitious Symphonies K. 318, 319 and 338 that were the last he wrote in Salzbug before settling in Vienna as a freelance musician. Written in the brilliant, formal key of C major, the Symphony has a grand, majestic flow. The vigorous first movement is followed by a graceful, rococo-like Andante for strings and bassoons. The work closes with a lilting Allegro vivace in a tarantella rhythm. Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.

Filmed mainly in Vienna’s splendid “Musikvereinssaal,” the Mozart symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the world’s foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. “Thanks to Bruno Walter’s exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart’s works, I grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart.” (Karl Böhm) “I will have to give up my nights to it,” wrote Mozart to his father in 1782 upon learning of an important new commission: to write a serenade for the ennoblement of Mayor Sigismund Haffner of Salzburg. Away at last from Salzburg, having just achieved success in Vienna with his “Entführung aus dem Serail,” and about to marry Constanze, Mozart must have been in an effervescent mood. Some of his good spirits obviously went into the serenade, which he transformed a year later into a four-movement symphony for a concert at the Burgtheater in Vienna, which was attended by the Emperor. Although Mozart wrote that “the first Allegro must be done with great fire, and the last should go as fast as possible,” he might have reconsidered his words had he been familiar with the demonic tempi of some 20th-century conductors! Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.

Mozart had taken his bride Constanze to visit with his father and sister in Salzburg. On the way back to Vienna, they passed through Linz, where lived a Count Thun, who asked the young couple to his palace and entertained them royally. He also asked Mozart to write a new symphony for a private concert he had planned for the fifth day after their arrival. On 31 October 1783 Mozart wrote to his father: “On Thursday, November 4th, I am going to give a concert in the theater, and since I haven’t a single symphony with me, I am up to my ears writing away at a new one which must be finished by then.” In spite of the lively and sociable atmosphere in which it was written, the “Linz” Symphony is more than merely playful or sentimental society music of the kind that had been traditional in symphonies up to then. New emotions of manly fire and thoughtful melancholy break through the polite restraints. The “Linz” Symphony is the earliest in which Mozart introduces his first movement with a slow passage of the kind Haydn had used for many years. This live recording was made at the “Grosser Musikvereinssaal” in Vienna in 1975. Karl Böhm led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Karl Böhm leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this little work written by Mozart in Salzburg in January 1776. What sets this work apart from other serenades is its scoring for two small orchestras, which produces a deliberate echo effect. One can almost imagine the courtly guests bantering amidst the two groups of players at the opposite ends of a grand salon. Although the work begins with a march, called “Marcia maestoso,” it soon gives up all martial pretenses for lightness and grace. The final Rondo is particularly spirited and frisky, wth episodes of a nature that must have made more than one guest stop in mid conversation! Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.

It is hard to believe that Mozart’s serenade “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” one of his most popular works, is still shrouded in mystery: although it was completed on 10 August 1787, we know neither for what occasion nor for whom it was written. Furthermore, the absence of wind instruments in a serenade is unusual since such works were often given outdoors, where the sound of wind instruments carried better. Finally, the work originally had a second Minuet and Trio, which was torn out of the autographic score – all enigmas that continue to ocupy musiciologists while we bask in the cloudless bliss of this work. Its forceful fanfare opening, lyrical Romanze, stately Minuet set against a bewitching cantilena in the Trio, and fleet-footed finale – all these movements fuse together into one of Mozart’s lightest and friendliest scores. Karl Böhm conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Karl Böhm (1894-1981) was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.

Karl Böhm heads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this performance of the Minuet K. 409, written in Vienna towards 1782. It was presumably composed for a performance of the Symphony in C major K. 338 in Vienna’s Augarten in May 1782. Let us recall that the autograph of the Symphony K. 338, written in Salzburg, contained only the beginning of a Minuet, which was then crossed out. The more progressive Viennese public preferred four-movement works, which might explain the origin of this Minuet. It is one of Mozart’s most imaginative and beguiling minuets. Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.