This is a superb recording of Mozart's "Haffner" serenade, the Serenade in D major, K. 250, marred only by troublesome sound despite a raft of audiophile designations. The work was composed in 1776 for the bachelorette party (the English notes use the Britishism "hen's night") of Elisabetta Haffner, the daughter of Salzburg merchant Siegmund Haffner, but the assembled bridal party may not have known what to make of this massive 54-minute work. It marks a real breakthrough for the 19-year-old Mozart in its huge blocks of ...
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This is a superb recording of Mozart's "Haffner" serenade, the Serenade in D major, K. 250, marred only by troublesome sound despite a raft of audiophile designations. The work was composed in 1776 for the bachelorette party (the English notes use the Britishism "hen's night") of Elisabetta Haffner, the daughter of Salzburg merchant Siegmund Haffner, but the assembled bridal party may not have known what to make of this massive 54-minute work. It marks a real breakthrough for the 19-year-old Mozart in its huge blocks of harmony, and it can be deadly dull in the hands of garden-variety chamber orchestras. The work is in eight movements, including three minuets, two slow movements, two full sonata-form movements, and a sizable central rondo. There are remarkably few real melodies in the work, just juxtapositions of texture and tonality that are often humorous when done right. This performance by the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under Gordan Nikolic is technically very sharp, sensitive, and with a...
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