Decca Legends - Mozart: Serenata Notturna, K239 / Notturno, K286 / Symphony No. 32, K318 / 6 German Dances
These legendary performances were recorded in 1959. Maag is still alive and shaking a stick--he recently recordeda notable seriesof the Beethoven symphonies for the Arts label--but he has worked in relative obscurity and hasn't recorded with major orchestras since these sessions. What a pity! This is truly superb Mozart playing--well-balanced, light, and airy in approach but always with sufficient gravity to serve the music. And the LSO proves itself a first-class Mozartean orchestra. Oddly, the actual tonal qualities of the recording are artificial-sounding; no real orchestra produces sounds quite like this. But the clarity and balance of the sound still manage to convey the quality of the performances. The program is exceedingly generous (80:48, about an LP and two-thirds) and quite unhackneyed, making the reasonably priced disc even more attractive.--Leslie Gerber