Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry
Orchestra: Orkester Nord
Conductor: Martin Wåhlberg
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Aparté
Catalogue: AP293
Release: 2022
Size: 1.11 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K183
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Andante
03. III. Menuetto – Trio
04. IV. Allegro
Gretry: Céphale et Procris – Suite
05. Ouverture
06. Ballet des nymphes de Diane – Menuet
07. Pantomime – Allegretto
08. Tambourin
09. Mouvement de lourd
10. Danse infernale
11. Larghetto
12. Chaconne
Mozart: Thamos, König in Ägypten, KV 345: four interludes
13. No. 2, Maestoso – Allegro
14. No. 3, Andante
15. No. 4, Allegro
16. No. 5, Allegro vivace assai
1773 was a key year for orchestral music. Mozart composed his “little G minor Symphony”, no. 25, and began work on the music for the play Thamos, König in Ägypten. In Paris, Grétry perfected the opéra-comique, a genre combining the light and the serious, and completely renewed the musical drama. Is it a mere coincidence that their compositions of that year show the same intensity and dramatic efficacy?
Martin Wåhlberg, at the head of his Orkester Nord, thinks not. Here he paints a bold picture: that of a Mozart taking inspiration from the new French theatre music, while retaining his own exceptional inventiveness and sense of form. The works recorded here enable us to trace the evolution of the emerging symphony, from the French theatre, with instrumental music from Grétry’s Céphale et Procris, to the German theatre, with Mozart’s music for the play Thamos, then the Mozart symphony, with his K.183, combining all of those elements in a purely orchestral work.