# Recording of Mozart's Sinfonie Concertante K.364 with scordatura viola?



## carlmichaels (May 2, 2012)

Hey all,

I don't think this has been addressed prior but my searching skills could be suspect so apologies if it has and please direct me to the topic.

I have various recordings of Mozart's Sinfonie Concertante K.364, but I'd like one with the viola tuned as per Mozart's direction ("scordatura"; wiki page; another helpful page).

I'm aware that Hindemith always tuned his viola this way for the performance of this piece, but I don't believe he made any _recording_ as such. If there is one available, please let me know - this would likely be my first choice. Of course Googling "Mozart Concertante Hindemith viola" (and variants) just turns up CDs that have a coupling of the concertante and some Hindemith work. Throwing "scordatura" in the mix helps. Two CDs pop up:

Midori Imai Eschenbach disc at Amazon
This definitely has the viola tuned accordingly, as discussed in the comments. The reviews seem rather mixed so I'd be hesitant about acquiring it (but perhaps someone here owns it and can comment?).

Chandos disc, K.364 coupled with Concerto for Two pianos, K.365 (Iona Brown, Norwegian CO)
The description at MusicWeb seemed promising, but the Chandos' liner notes say nothing leading me to believe this is not a scordurata recording.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

The asking price at amazon.com should encourage purchase of the Midori/Imai/Eschenbach recording. The customer revues are typical, and suggest 'predisposition'.

Note that this particular 'scordatura' is one of the simple ones; the tunings can get complicated, as in Biber.


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## carlmichaels (May 2, 2012)

Hilltroll72 said:


> The asking price at amazon.com should encourage purchase of the Midori/Imai/Eschenbach recording. The customer revues are typical, and suggest 'predisposition'.


Point taken.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

It just struck me that this raising of pitch has a couple connotations. First, Mozart was an accomplished violist (aha?); and second, is the 'thought behind' this spec related to the general rising of pitch in classical music that occurred after Mozart?


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

You need a period instrument, historically informed performance practice group. This new recording is excellent.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Pavlo Beznoisuk took the viola following Mozart's intentions.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Our local symphony just performed the work, using modern instruments, but with the scordatura tuning for the solo viola. The combination of this tuning and the solo violist standing slightly in front of the solo violinist really helped make the two instruments sound as equals.


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