236 Mozart: Sinfonia concertante KV 364 & Symphony in G minor KV 550

Description

The first time I heard “the” G Minor Symphony as “on-hold” music on the telephone, I thought, “Oh dear, another piece spoilt forever.” You’re wanting to complain to your telephone provider about your last bill and you hear this racket!
But there is a remedy. You just need to listen a little further than the clip from the on-hold music. There are so many different moods: melancholy, grief, rage, consolation. And everything is woven together with such ingenuity and originality!
It may seem strange at first to combine this with the blissful togetherness of the Sinfonia Concertante, but on reflection it makes sense. Whilst the slow movement of the G Minor Symphony (in the same key as the Sinfonia Concertante) brightens the mood of the other movements, the melancholic slow movement of the Sinfonia Concertante casts a shade over the lightness of the outer movements. It’s not all difficult, nor is it all straightforward. Just like real life.
Gordan “the philosopher” Nikolić (musical director and solo violin), Richard Wolfe (solo viola) and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra take on this fragile co-existence with impeccable assurance.

“It is always good to immerse yourself in the music with Real Surround recordings from Tacet. Gordan Nikolic’s partner in the popular Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, KV 364, is Richard Wolfe on the viola. They are brilliant and expressive. The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra’s playing is not only committed, but also soulful.
The interpretation of the 40th Symphony leaves no doubt that Nikolic has Mozart’s rhetoric fully under control. He is able to take more than just melodies from the G minor symphony and shapes them in a superior way, lively, with contrasting dynamics and colours, whereby the melancholy and dark sides of the music are also well expressed.” pizzicato

Audiosample (mp3, stereo)