An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Mozart, Sonata in A major, K.305
An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Mozart, Sonata in C major, K.303
An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Mozart, Sonata in E flat major, K.380
An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Mozart, Sonata in G major, K.301
An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Mozart, Sonata in F major, K.547
An important part of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s “Mozart Project” is to present the composer’s mature violin sonatas. Between 2005 and 2007, Ms. Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis toured throughout Europe, North America and Asia with the Mozart sonatas. In major musical centers such as Paris, London, Vienna and New York, they offered the entire cycle over three consecutive evenings. This three-evening survey was recorded in Munich in February 2006. Mozart composed sonatas for violin and piano from his earliest youth until his final years. But while the early pieces are little more than piano sonatas with violin accompaniments, the more mature works of 1778 begin to integrate the violin and piano parts more closely, and to highlight the growing independence and virtuosity of the violin. Mozart composed several violin sonatas during his stay in Mannheim and on his voyage to Paris in 1778. These first mature sonatas reflect some of the “Sturm und Drang” atmosphere of the music at the court of Mannheim, which emboldened Mozart to write in a freer and more dramatic mode. The E minor Sonata K. 304, for instance, prefigures Romanticism, and K. 306 incorporates a written-out cadenza for both instruments, similarly to an operatic “scena”. Indeed, the sonatas’ closeness to the opera is an element that Anne-Sophie Mutter herself has often pointed out: “For me, these sonatas are like narratives. Mozart never left the operatic stage, not even in his chamber music.” Mozart published his second set of mature sonatas shortly after he moved to Vienna in 1781. Among the most outstanding works of this cycle is the F major Sonata K. 377, a restrained piece of brooding intensity and introspection. The last sonatas were written between 1784 and 1788 and include Ms. Mutter’s favorite, the B flat major Sonata K. 454, “a monumental achievement,” as she puts it. “In the famous Andante, the violin and piano are so elaborately intertwined that you simply don’t notice when the words are taken out of your mouth and put back again. … This work has a depth that’s unequalled.” (Anne-Sophie Mutter) Also available is a “making-of” documentary on “The Mozart Project” (45′), in which Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about her relationship to Mozart’s music and is joined by her colleagues André Previn, Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Introduction to Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen
Brahms, Symphony No.2 in D major, op.73
Thanks to Kleiber’s legendary reluctance to produce recordings, each recording is an event, a classic. He could allow himself the luxury of choosing his own repertoire and performers, and of working at a pace that ensured peerless music-making. The results can perhaps be best illustrated with the image of ‘an expert art restorer who clears away centuries of grime to reveal a painting in its pristine glory. Kleiber… strips away the varnish from some of music’s most tradition-encrusted masterworks to expose the vital creation lurking beneath.’ (TIME)
Mozart, Symphony No.39 in E flat major, K. 543
This symphony is the first segment of the famous symphonic triptych composed by Mozart in the summer of 1788. Although we do not know exactly why Mozart wrote these three symphonic masterpieces at that time, it is assumed that they were intended for a series of concerts in Vienna. Despite his waning popularity in Vienna and his desperate financial situation, Mozart succeeded in forgetting his daily concerns and created a masterpiece of good spirits and self-confidence. The stately introduction leads into a graceful, urbane theme that seems to flow without effort. But a highlight of this work is the Trio of the Minuet, a pastoral Ländler for woodwinds that contrasts strikingly with the pounding energy of the Minuet. A musician’s musician, an occasional firebrand and a constant paradox – Nikolaus Harnoncourt (born in 1929) is one of the most profound and intriguing conductors of our time. Considered one of the world’s leading specialists of Baroque music, he has long since turned his attention to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and even to Jacques Offenbach and Johann Strauss. He spent many years as a cellist with the Wiener Symphoniker before founding the “Concentus Musicus Wien” with his wife Alice in 1953. It soon became one of the world’s most respected ensembles specializing in the performance of early music on original instruments. In the 1970s, Harnoncourt joined forces with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to stage a series of Monteverdi operas at the Zurich Opera House. This universally acclaimed cycle contributed to a renaissance of Monteverdi’s music and set standards for early Baroque performance practice. Harnoncourt later began to turn his attention more and more to the music of Mozart, whom he considers “the most romantic of all composers”. His concept of Mozart’s music ran counter to the prevailing 20th-century views, however. He sees Mozart’s music as “dramatic, dynamic, often directly and highly emotional.” The Vienna Philharmonic, known for its suave and gracious Mozartian interpretations, initially rebelled against Harnoncourt’s unconventional approach. Yet the compellingness of his vision soon came to be accepted and shared by all members of the orchestra. In this recording, Harnoncourt conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Beethoven, Symphony No.7 in A major, op.92
Sir Georg Solti was an exclusive artist of Unitel for many years, and during this time the larger part of his abundant repertoire was recorded for television, predominantly with his orchestra, the Chicago Symphony. To honor the great maestro, Unitel got together with him once again in 1995 to record a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, in which Solti paid homage to his Hungarian homeland, his roots and his teachers, the Hungarians Kodály, Bartók and Weiner. It is only natural that Berlioz’s Rakoczy March could not be absent from such a dazzling Austro-Hungarian concert. The second part of the concert is devoted to Beethoven, who was not Hungarian but was adopted by Hungary’s Austrian neighbors. The concert is Unitel’s last recording with the great artist, who passed away on 5 September 1997. Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. His remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony began in 1954; he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday.