In the old days the music of the so-called Mannheim School, which flourished at the court of the Electoral Palatinate in Mannheim (the giant castle that holds its own against the bombed-out city's new modern center is proof of the court's magnficence), was thought of as the primary predecessor to the Viennese Classicism of Haydn and Mozart. Awareness of the importance of Italian developments changed that, almost to the point where Mannheim has been considered something of a footnote. But the Mannheim orchestra, which Mozart ...
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In the old days the music of the so-called Mannheim School, which flourished at the court of the Electoral Palatinate in Mannheim (the giant castle that holds its own against the bombed-out city's new modern center is proof of the court's magnficence), was thought of as the primary predecessor to the Viennese Classicism of Haydn and Mozart. Awareness of the importance of Italian developments changed that, almost to the point where Mannheim has been considered something of a footnote. But the Mannheim orchestra, which Mozart as a young man and admired, was known all over Europe, and traces of the styles of the father-and-son composers recorded here, Johann and Carl Stamitz, are all over Mozart's music. It's nice to have this enthusiastic recording by a group of young Chicago players (who apparently use modern instruments despite a name, Camerata Chicago, that vaguely suggests a historical orientation). The fingerprint of the Mannheim School, the ascending "Mannheim rocket" figure, is not much on display...
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