Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Information-, 2 Jun 2006
A MOZART GALA FROM PRAGUE
Don Giovanni: Overture, K.527
Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major, K.622
Symphony No.38 in D major, K.504 "Prague"
Sharon Kam - basset clarinet
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Manfred Honeck
Recorded live at the Estates Theatre, Prague, 27 January 2006
Mozart Year 2006
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Manfred Honeck perform the most famous compositions by W.A. Mozart related to Prague: Overture to Don Giovanni, Prague Symphony and the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra.
With the excellent Sharon Kam on the clarinet - since emerging as the most exciting young clarinetist on the international scene when she won the top prize at the Munich (ARD) International Competition, she has performed with many renowned orchestras all over the world.
The Prague Estates Theatre is one of the most beautiful historical theatres in Europe. Part of its charm, magic and value lies in its historical significance, from the career of Mozart to modern times. In 1787 Mozart conducted here the premiere of "Don Giovanni", in this theatre Mozart's friend and inspiration, the clarinetist Anton Stadler, premiered the clarinet concerto in 1791
Brand new recording - state-of-the-art quality
5.1 surround sound in Dolby Digital and DTS
Widescreen 16:9 ratio
"Sharon Kam is a most imaginative and individual artist, using the widest tonal and dynamic range, and with a very sure technique, with every note clearly in place" The Gramophone Magazine
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Gala on Mozart's Actual 250th Birthday in a City He Loved ..., 21 Jul 2006
... and which loved him. Prague.
The concert consists of three pieces written and premiered in Prague and takes place in the actual theater where Don Giovanni was premiered, a gorgeous green and gilt four-tier box. (I recently read an interview with Sherrill Milnes, who sang the Don in that very theater, and he commented that it practically gave him heart failure to climb the spiral staircase to the dressing rooms knowing that they had not been changed since Mozart's day and that Mozart must have climbed those very stairs.) The Don Giovanni Overture is given a dramatic yet crisp performance by the slimmed down Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck, a Viennese maestro about to begin his tenure as the music director of the Stuttgart Opera. Then comes one of the greatest concertos for any instrument, the magnificent Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622. Sharon Kam, a rising star of the clarinet, an Israeli whom I first heard a year or so ago on a DVD with the Israel Philharmonic. I recall making a note to follow her career. And here she is, playing not the usual A clarinet but a basset clarinet which is after all the instrument that Mozart actually wrote this concerto for. It has three additional bass notes down to the C below middle C and Mozart used them in the piece; those playing the standard A clarinet have to play some of those notes an octave up. I've become used to the basset clarinet version and much prefer it. Kam, an attractive young woman, is a marvelous musician as well as having technique to spare. Her playing is supple and fluid but not wanting for fireworks when needed. She is matched by the unusually nuanced playing of the Czech Philharmonic (which, I note, has no female players in its pared-down 35-member form).
The 'Prague' Symphony, No. 38 in D, K. 504 -- also premiered in this theater only a few months after Don Giovanni -- is one of my favorite Mozart symphonies and I'm very particular about how it is done. It must, as it does here, have drama and grace in equal measure. It is in three movements, having no minuet, and it is in Don Giovanni's dominant key - D major - with many thematic similarities without, as far as I know, any direct quotations. The Czech Philharmonic play as to the manner born. One can see on their faces that they love this music. The subtle gradations of dynamic and tempi feel natural and perfectly right for the music. I love this performance.
The DVD is only 66 minutes long but I found that it was enough. I will admit, though, that after it finished I then went back and listened to several passages again (the concerto's Adagio, the whole of the Giovanni overture, the Andante of the symphony), reveling in their beauty. This one's a keeper.
Scott Morrison
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