• Tracks

Herbert von Karajan, the emblematic conductor of the post-war years, did not record Mozart's final six symphonies as a group until September 1970 - in EMI sessions presided over by French producer Michel Glotz, a close friend and colleague. There are some subtle inflections to the Karajan-Berlin sound here: we hear the Philharmoniker's usual silken texture, wonderfully enveloping and accomplished, but here it is more luminous, less sombre and untamed than in the DG recordings. This is nonetheless a fully symphonic Mozart, not deprived of urgency, but with a serious-minded and dignified radiance. Supple and organic, the phrases are steeped in the legato for which Karajan was famed. His introductions are solemn and noble (Nos. 36 and 39), his Andantes and Adagios take a metaphysical turn, and his Menuettos are envisaged almost as interludes - to astonishing effect in Symphony No. 36 - but it is in the finales (the 'Haffner', G minor and 'Jupiter') that Karajan is at his most irresistible. These recordings have just been remastered in HD 192/24 from the original tapes for the SACD release.