Gramophone Magazine
August 2024
Editor's Choice

Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C Major, K 338
Mozart: Minuet in C major, K 409
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D Major, ‘Haffner’, K 385
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 in C Major, ‘Linz’, K 425

Although Mozart composed them in his early twenties, the three symphonies presented here can in no way be regarded as early works. Written around the time of his departure from Salzburg for Vienna, these symphonies show that Mozart could deliver attractive, varied, orchestrally colourful and characterful music to suit a variety of public tastes. They also show a young and ambitious composer seeking to forge an impregnable reputation in Europe’s musical capital city. These symphonies truly opened a new chapter in Mozart’s symphonic output, as he demonstrated his absolute mastery of orchestral writing. In addition to the three symphonies as we know them, this recording also includes a Minuet that may have been intended to form part of Symphony no.34.

These three symphonies are performed here by the Philharmonia Orchestra, an ensemble that has performed them with the greatest conductors throughout its almost 80-year history. Here the conductor is the eminent Mozartian Michael Collins, whose recordings, notably that devoted to the Austrian composer’s Clarinet Concerto and Quintet, have earned him the highest praise.