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George Szell Plays and Conducts Mozart | 
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| Creators: George Goslee, Mischa Schneider, Robert Marcellus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Louis Lane, Robert Shaw, Maurice Sharp, Emani Engelucci, Martin Morris, Myron Bloom, Roy Waas, Marc Lifschey, Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra [members Of], Leon Fleisher, Judith Raskin, Abraham Skernick
Label: Sony Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $79.98
Buy New: $42.08
You Save: $37.90 (47%)
New (13) from $42.08
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 71280
Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 828768679326
EAN: 0828768679326
ASIN: B000I5YRQ0
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | I. Allegro spiritoso | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio | | • | IV. Presto | | • | I. Allegro assai | | • | II. Andante moderato | | • | III. Menuetto - Trio | | • | IV. Finale. Allegro assai |
Disc 2
| • | I. Allegro con spirito | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto - Trio | | • | IV. Finale. Presto | | • | I. Adagio - Allegro | | • | II. Andante con moto | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Finale. Allegro | | • | I. Allegro molto | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Finale. Allegro assai |
Disc 3
| • | I. Allegro molto | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Finale. Allegro assai | | • | I. Allegro vivace | | • | II. Andante cantabile | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Molto allegro | | • | Overture |
Disc 4
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Adagio | | • | III. Menuetto - Trio I - Trio II - Trio III | | • | IV. Allegretto | | • | V. Menuetto - Trio I - Trio II | | • | VI. Adagio - Allegro molto - Allegro assai | | • | I. Allegro vivace | | • | II. Andante cantabile | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Molto allegro |
Disc 5
| • | I. Allegro maestoso | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Presto | | • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Allegro | | • | I. Adagio - Allegro | | • | II. Andante con moto | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto | | • | IV. Finale. Allegro |
Disc 6
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Romance. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio | | • | IV. Rondo. Allegro | | • | I. Adagio maestoso - Allegro con spirito | | • | II. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio | | • | III. Concertante. Andante grazioso | | • | IV. Rondeau. Allegro ma non troppo | | • | V. Andantino | | • | VI. Menuetto - Trio I - Trio II | | • | VII. Finale. Presto |
Disc 7
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Tema mit Variationen. Andante | | • | III. Menuetto | | • | IV. Adagio | | • | V. Menuetto | | • | VI. Rondo. Allegro | | • | Lacrimosa |
Disc 8
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Adagio | | • | III. Rondo. Allegro | | • | I. Allegro maestoso | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Allegretto |
Disc 9
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Rondo. Allegretto grazioso | | • | I. Allegro con spirito | | • | II. Allegro | | • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Tempo di Menuetto | | • | I. Allegro vivace | | • | II. Andante sostenuto | | • | III. Rondo. Allegro |
Disc 10
| • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Andante | | • | III. Rondo | | • | I. Allegro | | • | II. Larghetto | | • | III. Allegretto |
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| Customer Reviews:
Outstanding March 23, 2007
Thomas B. Kirsch (Palo Alto, CA., USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
These performances are taken from the time when George Szell was the conductor of the Cleveland Symphony. They are magnificent performances, and the transfer to CD makes them sound better than the original LP in many cases.
I am absolutely loving to listen to these wonderful performances.
Szell's Moazrt March 14, 2007
J. L. Carr
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
No one has conducted MOzart the way Szell did. And this album has some of his best recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra. Not to be missed!
No Chocolate Sauce... December 9, 2006
Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
"There is a difference between the chaste sensuality of Mozart or Haydn and the lascivious sensuality of Richard Strauss. One cannot pour chocolate sauce over asparagus." George Szell
Sony's Original Jackets series continues with this release of the music of Mozart featuring (with a few exceptions) conductor and pianist George Szell. This is the second Original Jackets issue dedicated to Szell. The other, featuring Beethoven's Symphonies is also highly recommended. Sony has changed the format somewhat. Whereas the series initially rigidly adhered to the original LP programming, most of the CDs here are generously filled with bonus tracks. So much the better.
It must have taken some arm twisting on Szell's part to get Symphonies K. 200 and K. 319 recorded, as neither were repertoire staples in the 1960s (they still appear relatively rarely). Kudos to both Szell and Columbia for undertaking the project. Many of the other works here have been issued multiple times.
As with nearly everything else they recorded, the Szell/Cleveland combination brings forth performances of common sensibility and uncommon balance. The tempos and phrasing for each work and movement seem inevitable, and the performances are stripped of all phony Gemutlikeit. The various choirs of the orchestra are balanced with chamber-like precision, so that each voice is heard in proper perspective. This is even evident in the monaural recordings of three of the Symphonies, which are a tad more flexible than their stereo counterparts.
Szell, a co-pupil of Rudolf Serkin, was also a fine pianist. Szell's arrangement of Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel (featuring sound effects from his cuff-links) is legendary. Both the Violin Sonatas and Piano Quartets show Szell as a sympathetic collaborator who was comfortable with ceding the spotlight to his partners. Szell was also an excellent collaborator in Concertos, as the Clarinet Concerto K. 622 with Robert Marcellus and the Piano Concerto K. 503 with Leon Fleischer demonstrate. Unlike, say, Toscanini, Szell did not feel the need to steamroll a soloist into complying with his own conception of a piece.
A few of the items here do not feature Szell as either pianist or conductor. The Leinsdorf conducted performance of the Minuet K. 409 - - charming, fluid, and transparent - - belies the notion that the Cleveland Orchestra was a second rate band until Szell came along. Likewise, Louis Lane, who was solidly in the Szell tradition of conducting, leads a superb performance of the Divertimento, K. 334. There are many in Cleveland, including myself, who feel Lane would have been a more appropriate successor to Szell than the eccentric Lorin Maazel.
The sound in the stereo items, recorded at Severance Hall, is greatly improved over previous issues. The location for the mono items is not documented, but to my ears it sounds like they were recorded at nearby Masonic Auditorium. The mono sonics are acceptable, if a bit boomy. Dynamics, which were constricted, have been opened up. The strings have lost their aggressive edge and have a sweeter, more natural character. It's well worth replacing the earlier issues of these recordings, and a must if you don't have them already.
 A famous Mozart conductor gets his due -- in spades December 9, 2006
Santa Fe listener
15 out of 23 found this review helpful
At the height of his fame, George Szell was often praised by critics as the perfect Mozart conductor, a reputation that seems puzzling today. Today we get to hear many approaches to Mozart besides the kind exemplified here, which is fast, clipped, ultra-precise, and humorless. Shorn of elegance and reduced to a display of incredibly precise ensemble, Szell's Mozart can hardly be understood without realizing how dominant Toscanini was in the Forties and Fifties, when Szell rode in on his stylistic coattails. Strict disciplinarians make pretty sour concerts unless they possess Toscnini's genius, and Szell had at least that portion that could dazzle with virtuosity.
Given my opinion, why wuold I rate this big box set, which contains almost everything by Mozart that Szell ever recorded (or evverything Sony has decided to pluck from their Columbia and Epic archives)? Well, the music-making is dazzling, it must be admitted. Since Amazon doesn't give the contents of these 10 discs, I will copy the listing from the Crotchet, the British online store:
Symphony No.28 in C K200. Marriage of Figaro K492 : Overture. Symphony No.33 in B flat K319. Symphony No.35 in D K385 'Haffner'. Symphony No.39 in E flat K543. Symphony No.40 in G minor K550. Symphony No.41 in C K551 'Jupiter'. The Impresario K486 : Overture. Divertimento No.2 in D K131. Symphony No.41 in C K551 'Jupiter'. Sinfonia Concertante in E flat K364. Exsultate Jubilate K165. Serenade No.13 in G K525 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'. Serenade No.9 in D K320 'Posthorn'. Divertimento No.17 in D K334. Lacrimosa. Minuet in C K409. Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A K622. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.25 in C K503. Sonata for Piano and Violin No.24 in F K376. Sonata for Piano and Violin No.18 in G K301. Sonata for Piano and Violin No.21 in E minor K304. Sonata for Piano and Violin No.17 in C K296. Quartet for Keyboard Violin Viola and Cello in G minor K478. Quartet for Keyboard Violin Viola and Cello in E flat K493.
Sym. 39-41 are duplicated in mono and stereo (rather pointlessly since the performances are identical in every respect). Szell himself appears as pianist in the violini sonatas (with Cleveland Orch. concertmaster, Rafael Druian) and the piano quartet (in mono with members of the Budapest Qt.) Fleisher is the sazzling soloist in piano concerto (the concertos with Rudolf Serkin aren't included). The clarinet concerto is done by the orchestra's first char, Robert Marcellus. Druain reappears with the first-chair viola, Abraham Skemick for a dry-as-dust reading of the lovely E-flat Sinfonia Concertante. Judith Raskin is the superb soprano in Exultate Jubilate. To make matters confusing, the conductor of the Divertimento K. 334 isn't Szell at all but his assitant in Cleveland, Louis Lane, hwo does a reasonable job.
I don't know who wants this much of Szell's Mozart, but if I had to choose one cherishable recording, it would be the Posthorn Serenade, in which we get the usual precision but also a measure of charm and relaxation.
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