Favorite recording of Eine kleine Nachtmusik?

[jbuck919]

When I was applying to colleges in the early 70s, I had a series of informative, non-evaluative interviews at a well-known university which I will not name, except to say that it is John F's alma mater. The music department guy, a gaunt, fastidious man who was friendly enough but smoked cigarettes throughout the talk, told me that the department had a good record collection, but that they didn't make it a point to have twenty performances of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which he pronounced with exaggerated non-native correctness.

It is not that experience, but financial constraints and the fact that my musical emphasis lies elsewhere, that has kept me from pursuing multiple recordings of everything like many people here. But this memory crossed my mind as I glanced at the most recent threads regarding "best recordings of...." This is not intended as a criticism of those for whom this is a musical focus--far from it. I just thought I'd share a memory to demonstrate that I have backup for the way I do things.

[josé echenique]

[Wallingford]

Dorati/LSO

[ContrapunctusIX]

Sandor Vegh/Camerata Salzburg

[John F]

EkN is completely unproblematic, and no recording I've heard has stood out, because how could it? But I do have a favorite one. It's by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet plus double bass, one player to a part, which most likely is how it was originally played. They're members of the Vienna Philharmonic and play Mozart con amore.

[Chalkperson]

I avoid this piece of music like the plague...

[barney]

EkN is completely unproblematic, and no recording I've heard has stood out, because how could it? But I do have a favorite one. It's by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet plus double bass, one player to a part, which most likely is how it was originally played. They're members of the Vienna Philharmonic and play Mozart con amore.

Yes, very memorable account.

[barney]

I avoid this piece of music like the plague...

Alas, I tend to do the same. When I first discovered classical music I loved it and played it often (40 years ago). But it's a bit like 4 seasons and Pachelbel's canon, which we discussed recently on another thread - I come across it as mobile ring tones, and as hold music when you wait on the phone. It's a piece of classical perfection, in terms of form and symmetry, but it's not profound enough to overcome those obstacles.

[John F]

EkN isn't quite as lacking in musical interest as that; there are a couple of eruptions and key shifts in the finale that should wake up whoever is being serenaded. (Nobody knows who it was composed for or for what occasion. Maybe it's a contrasting companion piece to "A Musical Joke"!) But it's certainly less ambitious than Mozart's other serenades and divertimentos of his last decade.

[barney]

EkN isn't quite as lacking in musical interest as that; there are a couple of eruptions and key shifts in the finale that should wake up whoever is being serenaded. (Nobody knows who it was composed for or for what occasion. Maybe it's a contrasting companion piece to "A Musical Joke"!) But it's certainly less ambitious than Mozart's other serenades and divertimentos of his last decade.

All fair enough. My point is less about the merit of the piece (though I feel it hasn't the profundity to overcome the obstacles that I mention, in the way that the piano concertos do or the K511 Adagio etc) but that its use in popular culture, hust as phone music or ring tones, has spoiled it for me. Just as with the Canon or 4 Seasons, both of which are charming enough compositions, especially the latter. Even so, I don't mind if I never hear them again.

[Burbage]

I just thought I'd share a memory to demonstrate that I have backup for the way I do things.

A good point well made. And, by the look of it, spectacularly missed. It may just be friendly teasing, but I really can't be sure.

[jbuck919]

I just thought I'd share a memory to demonstrate that I have backup for the way I do things.

A good point well made. And, by the look of it, spectacularly missed. It may just be friendly teasing, but I really can't be sure.

You're the only one who got it. However, I must express sincere thanks to the members who posted serious suggestions.

[starrynight]

The minuet is the weakest part for me, it could work well without that even. Very self-assured work and great tunes. The slow movement feels by far the most complicated emotionally, but the energy of the outer movements is so in sync with the music.

[John F]

Even the minuet is not routine. Both halves of the A section end in strong cross-rhythms, and the melodic line of the trio is chromatic in Mozart's characteristic way. Fairly eventful in just two minutes.

[RebLem]

Szell/Cleveland.

[karlhenning]

I avoid this piece of music like the plague...

It grieves me when any piece of genuinely fine (perhaps even great) music becomes so unecessarily ubiquitous, that the result is music-lovers' cringing at the thought of even hearing it again. I think I feel your pain, Chalkie . . . .

As to the thread itself . . . I am not at all surprised to find that early on, recommendations split into two factions, HIP & "big-band" ; )

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Even the minuet is not routine. Both halves of the A section end in strong cross-rhythms, and the melodic line of the trio is chromatic in Mozart's characteristic way. Fairly eventful in just two minutes.

Indeed! The piece is an absolute gem. IMO, if we find ourselves cavilling, and offering to "edit" Mozart (any of us presuming to edit Mozart . . . dwell on that for five minutes . . . {not the juvenilia, mind you}), perhaps we need to step away and cleanse our sonic palate. The K.525 is impervious to reasonable musical criticism. ("I wish it were more like a Brahms piece" or "Gee, I've heard it a gazillion times, and I'm just tired of it" are not strictly musical matters.)

Cheers,
~Karl

[sans maitre]

Thinking a HIP version would be the way to go

[Ted Quanrud]

Although "A Little Night Music" is the name of my Sunday evening public radio program, I am not particularly fond of the work (familiarity breeds indifference, I suppose). This is the recording I use when needed for closing the program:

[lennygoran]

the name of my Sunday evening public radio program,

Ted I had no idea you had a radio program!

http://news.prairiepublic.org/programs/ ... gomoorhead

Regards, Len

PS I googled some more and found more info here!

http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/radi ... ight-music

[Lance]

Well, over the years, I've accumulated about 50 recordings of Eine Kleine, not by choice, necessarily, but because they came with something else on the recording that I wanted. I don't listen to it too much myself these days. Like Beethoven's Fifth (first movement) and other noted works, it has fallen a bit out of favour with me. Too much other Mozart I would prefer to hear. But I have a few favourites I can think of:

Reiner/Chicago SO
Furtwängler/Vienna VPO
Walter/Columbia SO
Klemperer/Philharmonia (1954)
Beecham/LPO

Beecham was quite a Mozartean, but my desert island discs would probably be Bruno Walter of Herr Furtwängler.

[Ted Quanrud]

the name of my Sunday evening public radio program,

Ted I had no idea you had a radio program!

http://news.prairiepublic.org/programs/ ... gomoorhead

Regards, Len

PS I googled some more and found more info here!

http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/radi ... ight-music

Hi Len --

Thanks for looking me up. It has indeed been 31 years since I first went behind the microphone. I have enjoyed almost every minute of it, and I hope the audience has enjoyed at least some of it. I have no formal training in broadcasting or programming and only a smidgeon in music, so it has always been something of a seat-of-the-pants undertaking. Luckily for me, I have had some outstanding colleagues who were more than happy to share what they know, as well as forgiving listeners, some of whom will even call in to gently correct my Hungarian, Romanian, Portuguese or many other languages with which I have less than a passing familiarity.

[jbuck919]

I have had some outstanding colleagues who were more than happy to share what they know, as well as forgiving listeners, some of whom will even call in to gently correct my Hungarian, Romanian, Portuguese or many other languages with which I have less than a passing familiarity.

Yeah, you've got to watch out when you try to pronounce Liszt, Bartok, and Enescu. They're so much harder than Dvorak and Saint-Saens.

[lennygoran]

Thanks for looking me up.

Ted my pleasure--loved reading about " a well-stocked bar " Regards, Len

[Lance]

Well Ted, I was happy to read about you as well. I was trying to check your playlist ... alas, nothing appeared. Is it updated per program? You and I have a lot in common. I have been broadcasting since 1968 and have deeply enjoyed every minute of it. I continue to be happy knowing we are "brothers" in the world of broadcasting. People STILL listen to classical music on the radio, traveling, during dinner, or otherwise at their convenience. The classical music record marketing may have changed somewhat over the last few years, but radio will always be present. Give Rosser a pat on the head for me.

[Ted Quanrud]

Well Ted, I was happy to read about you as well. I was trying to check your playlist ... alas, nothing appeared. Is it updated per program? You and I have a lot in common. I have been broadcasting since 1968 and have deeply enjoyed every minute of it. I continue to be happy knowing we are "brothers" in the world of broadcasting. People STILL listen to classical music on the radio, traveling, during dinner, or otherwise at their convenience. The classical music record marketing may have changed somewhat over the last few years, but radio will always be present. Give Rosser a pat on the head for me.

Hi Lance --

Sorry about the playlist. Prairie Public's website is an ongoing exercise in frustration. Here's a direct link: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/ndpr/ ... tID=161742.

I listen to you often, and enjoy your program very much. My camping buddies often remind me of the time I was listening in the North Dakota Badlands atop a high hill so I could catch a signal. Luckily no bison happened by. Unfortunately, I'm the photographer i nthe group. so we have no pictorial record of this.

People DO still listen to classical music, and you and I are lucky enough to bring it to them.

Rosser appreciates the pat.

Ted

[Marc]

[....] I do have a favorite one. It's by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet plus double bass, one player to a part, which most likely is how it was originally played. They're members of the Vienna Philharmonic and play Mozart con amore.

One of my favourites would be a Eurodisc vinyl gem from 1979 with the Wiener Kammerensemble, and I think it's the same recording you mentioned. Is it with Hetzel, Maetzl, Streng, Skokic and Kräutler?

[Mascha]

Mozart's Kleine Nachtmusik cracks me. Sounds like rolling thunder. Marching feet.

Night music - it should help to find sweet dreams. Like this ->
https://youtu.be/87bx2dSK41I

Is there any proper recording? Half as fast. Only piano and Violin. Maybe. Like Mozarts at home?

[Lance]

Well, first off, WELCOME to CMG! We hope you check in with us frequently. You just may become a lover of the world's greatest music!

You've selected a major, popular piece by Mozart. Me? I have around 60+ recordings of this favourite serenade. I've always had a preference for Bruno Walter as a conductor of Mozart's music, but then Fricsay, Busch, Beecham, Reiner, Kubelik and many other conductors make an impression with this music. Insofar as the tempo is concerned, generally they all follow Mozart's instructions so there will be similarities between these performances without deviating too far. At the moment, I am not sure if there are reductions to piano/violin, etc., available. Given Mozart's popularity, it wouldn't surprise me if there are. If you like Eine Kleine, you might also give Mozart's Symphonies 25 and 29 a hearing, or the Paris symphony. Please stay in touch with us and let us know what you are finding.

[maestrob]

Mozart's Kleine Nachtmusik cracks me. Sounds like rolling thunder. Marching feet.

Night music - it should help to find sweet dreams. Like this ->
https://youtu.be/87bx2dSK41I

Is there any proper recording? Half as fast. Only piano and Violin. Maybe. Like Mozarts at home?

Hello Mascha, and welcome!

Here's my favorite recording of EKN, an oldie with the lovely sonorities of the Vienna Philharmonic:



If you search for "Mozart Bohm Nachtmusik," you'll find the above cover on Amazon and you can stream it there, or there are 7 (Yes, SEVEN!) versions of the same recording on Spotify.

Enjoy!

[dirkronk]

My faves in large ensembles: Reiner (mono) and Szell. I once had a French Harmonia Mundi LP of a small chamber group with equal lilt, speed, expression AND wonderfully open texture...but I cannot for the life of me recall their name. (It was one of those generic cover Musique d’Abord issues for those determined to hunt down rarities.)

Dirk

[dirkronk]

OK, I’m following up my own post because I just looked up “Harmonia Mundi Musique d’abord” and the label has kept the name for what I suppose is a download service but replaced the players. There is in fact a Nachtmusik but it’s done by Manze and the English Concert, who may do a splendid job...but they weren’t the players on my old LP. Their version is from 2003 and I got my LP in c.1981 when I was ordering records for my friends’ hi-fi shop.
I’ll keep searching.
Dirk

[Mascha]

Dirk, please try to remember ...