The term "Sturm und Drang" originated in the world of drama, not music, but conductor Ian Page and his group the Mozartists here make a convincing case for the musical aspects of the phenomenon having come first, even if the style did not yet have a name. The works here were all composed well before the plays to which the descriptor has been applied. This is the first in a projected seven-volume series from Page, and he takes a similar approach to that in his "Mozart 250" series, which featured performances of music close ...
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The term "Sturm und Drang" originated in the world of drama, not music, but conductor Ian Page and his group the Mozartists here make a convincing case for the musical aspects of the phenomenon having come first, even if the style did not yet have a name. The works here were all composed well before the plays to which the descriptor has been applied. This is the first in a projected seven-volume series from Page, and he takes a similar approach to that in his "Mozart 250" series, which featured performances of music close to 250 years from the date it first appeared: here all of the music is from the 1760s. This is valuable, for the pre-Classical era, no less than our own, was subject to trends, and in the present works, one can almost feel the style sweep across the minds of composers with very different preoccupations. Page and the Mozartists open with the final scene from Gluck's underrated and influential Don Juan. Then, after descending into hell, listeners get a rather eerie ascent to the heights...
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