# Mozart Symphony No. 36 "Linz"



## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Anyone have a favourite for this symphony? "Third Ear" put Bernstein / Vienna (DG) at the top of the list, and I like it. I prefer it to the versions by Pinnock and Marriner. Mozart created it in honour of his genial host, Count Linz, who showered him with kindness. It's an amiable work, without any darkness. Bernstein is gracious and beautiful, but also jaunty and exciting. A difficult balance to get right.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra puts on a nice performance. There may be better out there in terms of interpretations, but I love all this orchestra's performances, because each instrument is so distinct!! At any point you can pick something like the Bassoon and literally hear each distinct not being played. They are great!! I don't know about this being one of their best interpretations, but you HAVE TO hear their interpretations of Mozart's last 3 Symphonies!!! BY FAR my favorite!! (Especially Prague!!)


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I second the Mackerras / SCO recommendation


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I love two, Bernstein/ V.O+ Mackerras / SCO in that order.


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## ViatorDei (May 19, 2016)

*Karl Böhm*'s not all that bad... In general, I prefer his Mozart symphonies. I only like Mackerras better for the 29th and 38th and Von Karajan for the 41st.

Quick side-note: One thing that Bruno Walter said in an interview has always stuck with me. He expressed his amazement that so many young conductors felt they could tackle Mozart's symphonies when they really require a very mature musical sensibility. When you do some comparative listening, you can see how much nuance there is and how much they test a conductor's (and orchestra's) ability to interpret.


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## ViatorDei (May 19, 2016)

double post...double post...double post...


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2016)

Mal said:


> Anyone have a favourite for this symphony? "Third Ear" put Bernstein / Vienna (DG) at the top of the list, and I like it. I prefer it to the versions by Pinnock and Marriner. Mozart created it in honour of his genial host, Count Linz, who showered him with kindness. It's an *amiable *work, without any darkness. Bernstein is gracious and beautiful, but also jaunty and exciting. A difficult balance to get right.


Thanks for drawing attention to this work. 'Amiable' is about right. There seemed to be little to catch the attention and muse over or marvel at...at least, not in the version you recommended.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm not sure about a favourite but recordings by Krips, Beecham (via the Pristine site) and Pinnock are the ones I listen to most. And then there is Klemperer.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Eugen Jochum for me. I fell in love with this symphony after hearing his recording with the Bavarian Radio Symphony on an old Heliodor LP more years ago than I care to remember.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Hmm. It makes me wonder how great the performance was if the only impression one takes away is that the work is just "amiable." It was, at that time, Mozart's most ambitious symphony. Perhaps not as ambitious as the four that would come next, but there are aspects of this symphony I enjoy more than, say, the Jupiter symphony, especially when comparing the first movement of both works: The richer and more memorable(to me) thematic material and the striking and rhetorically interesting slow introduction. There's also the subtle shifts between graceful lightness and pensive darkness of the second movement, and the exhilarating development of the finale.

It's a work that suffers a lot without careful attention to the subtle details through articulation, phrasing, and dynamics; but it's a wonderfully rich, structurally, rhetorically detailed, fascinating piece and deserves to be played like it. I've been happy enough with the Kleiber performance with Brahms's 2nd and Mackerras's recordings of it, although their approach is very different.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

trazom said:


> Hmm. It makes me wonder how great the performance was if the only impression one takes away is that the work is just "amiable."


I also, indirectly, suggested it was gracious, beautiful, jaunty and exciting! But I take your point that it is also rich, striking and rhetorically interesting. I'll watch out for that pensive darkness, maybe Bernstein missed it, or maybe I did. "Third Ear" said it was "shorn of all darkness" so maybe I was primed not to find it...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Reiner/CSO

I also like Walter/ColSo


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