Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik / Serenata Notturna / etc

Penguin Guide - Rosette Winner

Mozart's career can be divided neatly into two distinct periods: before and after his return to Salzburg in January, 1779, following his trip to Mannheim and Paris. He was twenty-three years old. Two years later, he took up residence in Vienna, where he was to spend the greater part of the next ten years until his death. With one or two exceptions, most of the composer's greatest works belong to the second half of his life. Until 1781 he had travelled extensively, but his roots were always in his native Salzburg. Of the four works featured in this CD, the earliest two were composed in Salzburg, while the other two were composed in Vienna some ten years later. Three of these works have nocturnal associations - not in any Romantic sense, but according to the 18th century sense of the term "notturno", as applied to compositions belonging to the divertimento or serenade genre, intended primarily, although not exclusively, for evening or night performance. The two Salzburg pieces and the two composed in Vienna both form natural, albeit quite different pairs.

"The best known piece among this collection is of course the string serenade known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik, composed for an unknown occasion in Vienna during 1787. Savall's performance stands up well, with expertly phrased balancing of the subtle part-writing, and a real freshness in the interpretation of what can too easily seem hackneyed music. The 'authentic' string sound is pleasing too, as it is throughout the whole programme."
(MusicWeb July 2006)