# SS 26.10.19 - Mozart #32



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)*

Symphony No. 32 in G major, K. 318

1. Allegro spiritoso
2. Andante
3. Tempo primo
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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another weekend is upon us and another Symphony is up for your listening enjoyment. This weekend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has returned with his 32nd Symphony. I love Mozart and any excuse to listen to him is ok by me. I hope everyone can join in. There are plenty of recordings out there of this one so I don't think I need to post any YouTube links. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

This weekend I'll go with an old favorite:







Sir Neville Marriner/Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I shall give this HIP version a spin for this Symphony


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I usually listen to the symphonies with Mackerras/Prague, but this time I’ll also try the Pinnock.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I'll probably listen to Karajan as I don't often visit his Mozart. And since this must be the shortest Saturday Symphony ever, I'll listen to a few more Mozart symphonies as well.


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2019)

For me Harnoncourt/Concertgebouw. I would consider Adam Fischer/Danish Chamber Orchestra, but despite recording 45 symphonies, they omit #32, which apparently they don't consider a _symphony_.


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Wow this is an extremely brief one.. anyway Mackerras and Prague Chamber for me.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes, brief indeed at under eight minutes total (Pinnock & Co.) But plenty of noise and big gestures with those four horns and two trumpets! And there's some interesting stuff going on under the hood.

Mvmt 1 , a sonata form allegro of less than three minutes. We get the first theme, then the second, and then the expected development. But just when we're poised to drop back to the tonic for the recap, instead we segue without pause into

Mvmt 2, a lyrical and flowing Andante. Again, less than three minutes long and, again, just at the point we expect a transition to the tonic for the final phrases, we segue again into

Mvmt 3, _tempo primo_, which is essentially the recap we expected and didn't get in the 1st mvmt. Under two minutes long, it's a "reverse recap" since the themes are presented in reverse order - the second theme and then the first.

So the symphony is really a slow movement enfolded in a sonata allegro. Ignoring the development, the form is ABCBA. However, as Wiki points out the Andante, our "C", is itself in rondo form, ABACAB, breaking off just when we expect its final "A" section. So the symphony is really an onion within an onion.

Due to its short length and its being played without pause, it can be heard as an overture. In fact, Mozart used it at one point as an overture to a Vienna performance of an opera by another composer.

An interesting symphony (if it _is _a symphony) and a good addition to this series.

PS I didn't care for the sound of the Pinnock, seemed thready and shrill. Both Marriner/ASMTF and Mackerras/Prague sound much better.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

cougarjuno said:


> Wow this is an extremely brief one.. anyway Mackerras and Prague Chamber for me.


I am going with this one.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

From my collection


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

As time permits and the Symphony (overture) is so short I have given three recordings a spin.
Pinnock, MacKerras (SCO), & Maag.

Maag with the LSO coming in at a whopping 9.43 give the work more gravitas which almost justifys the term Symphony. Both Pinnock and MacKerras with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra are more fleet of foot - I could happily listen to MacKerras and Maag on a regular basis and on this occasion I find Pinnock a bit too weedy.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I did three versions. I quite like the Gardiner account of this symphony and Krips is excellent as well. The Pinnock is quite good but not IMO one of the best from his set. It's a short work but Mozart packs quite a lot into it - a bit like the Tardis (Dr Who), it looks small from the outside.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

This one is not in the EMI Klemperer box!

I'll listen to Jeffrey Tate, and maybe see if Trevor Pinnock fares more favourably than I have so far given him credit.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I've just dug this one outta the CD racks. Didn't even know I had it. Lol


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Merl said:


> I've just dug this one outta the CD racks. Didn't even know I had it. Lol
> 
> View attachment 125862


I have the other 2 discs in Glover's later Mozart Symphonies but not this one!
I feel that she presents rather middle of the road performances, well played but not spectacular and so I would be interested in your thoughts on this one


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Haydn man said:


> I have the other 2 discs in Glover's later Mozart Symphonies but not this one!
> I feel that she presents rather middle of the road performances, well played but not spectacular and so I would be interested in your thoughts on this one


I have a number of Glover's Mozart discs from the ASV series - I would describe them as traditional performances, ie not HIP, but on a chamber scale which for me suits the music well. She lets Mozart come through by not adding a lot of Jane Glover to the mix. 
As you may conclude I rather like her recordings which I much prefer to more weightier recordings from the likes of Bohm.


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