Composer: Wplfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Alexander Janiczek
Orchestra: Kölner Akademie
Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Release: 2020
Size: 1.48 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. March in D Major, K. 249 “Haffner”
Serenade No. 7 in D Major, K. 250 “Haffner”
02. I. Serenata
03. II. Andante
04. III. Menuetto – Trio
05. IV. Rondeau
06. V. Menuetto galante – Trio
07. VI. Andante
08. VII. Menuetto
09. VIII. Adagio – Allegro assai
Ein musikalischer Spaß, K. 522
10. I. Allegro
11. II. Menuetto
12. III. Andante cantabile
13. IV. Presto
Besides an acclaimed series of recordings with Ronald Brautigam of the complete piano concertos by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, Kölner Akademie and Michael Alexander Willens are undertaking a survey of Mozarts serenades and other incidental works. Their first disc in this series included the Posthorn Serenade and demonstrated, according to the reviewer on MusicWeb-International, that the ensemble is amongst the best groups in the world of period performance’. Since then the team has recorded works associated with the Freemasons, and here takes on one of the most famous of the serenades, the Haffner, named after Sigmund Haffner, who commissioned it for the festivities surrounding his sisters wedding in 1776. A notable feature of Mozarts serenades and the large-scale Haffner is no exception is the incorporation of virtuosic solo parts, here performed by the violinist Alexander Janiczek. On the amply-filled disc (almost 86 minutes!), the at times quite imposing serenade is followed by Mozarts Musical Joke Ein musikalischer Spaß, K522. A work in four movements, this is a delightful and very skilfully crafted parody of musical incompetence. It is written for strings and a pair of horns, and its frequent caricatures of the second-rate whether in composition or performance are brilliantly observed, by Mozart as well as the present performers.