Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart
Mozart's Serenade No. 13 in G Major for Strings K. 525 has become world-famous under the entry he made in his personal catalogue of works: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik". Though normally performed by a string ensemble, Roman Kim plays its first movement "Allegro" on a single violin! As with Bach's "Air", Kim has produced a "violin reduction" containing all the essential parts. Its performance requires not only double stops but triple and even quadruple stops, left-hand pizzicato and many other tricks of the trade. The show effect is guaranteed!
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart
Listeners who are well acquainted with the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart might bypass this Greatest Classical Hits compilation from Deutsche Grammophon if the three masterworks presented here are already part of their libraries. However, don't skip over it too hastily, for this is much more than just an affordable beginner's package -- not only because of the superb playing by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of the Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," K. 525, and the Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, but also for the classic reading of the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, "Elvira Madigan," K. 467, by the brilliant Géza Anda and the Camerata Academica of the Salzburg Mozarteum. The two offerings by Orpheus -- dating from 1985 for Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and from 1995 for the Symphony -- are all-digital recordings, and thanks to DG's world-class engineering, there is no important distinction of sound quality to be made between the two, since both are terrific. The recording of the Piano Concerto, however, dates from 1961, and though this is still a great-sounding rendition for the standards of the time, it is nonetheless an analog recording that shows some signs of tape hiss and a slightly hazy aural environment. Still, once Anda enters and demonstrates his unique sensitivity with this music, all concerns over the recording should vanish. This performance is perhaps an ideal introduction for newcomers to Mozart and this profoundly subtle pianist, and anyone who is charmed by Anda's playing may well consider tracking down the box set of the complete piano concertos, which was reissued in a streamlined package in 2002.
Eine kleine Nachtmusik is the name given to the Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K 525 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is one of his most popular pieces and the opening tune is heard in many places, e.g. on mobile phones.It was composed in 1787 and is a serenade for strings.
The title Eine kleine Nachtmusik means literally: "A little Night Music". "Nachtmusik" was a title which was often given to serenades in the 18th century. A serenade in the 18th century was a lighthearted piece of music, often played during feasts. This serenade is written for two violins, viola, and cello and possibly a double bass as well. It is either performed as a string quartet (just four players) or by a small group of instruments, in which case at least one double bass is normally added.
Mozart's genius for creating the slight as well as the sublime is demonstrated handily by the works on this program. The serenade, Eine kleine Nachtmusik - one of the composer's most felicitous (and famous) "little" pieces - is a bon-bon of the most delectable kind. Judging by its ebullient character, it seems to have burst into life in 1787, as the result of a force that could rightly be called spontaneous composition. One imagines, however, that there was probably some Viennese occasion for which Mozart supplied the work - a celebrative occasion, no doubt. (In its original connotation, a serenade was evening music with which to divert and/or woo a lover or to please persons of rank. By Mozart's day, the former purpose had all but disappeared.) In the second half of the 18th century, the serenade was written for an ensemble small enough to be practical for outdoor performance (more often than not an ensemble of winds), and it generally had more than the four movements that filled out a standard symphony. 041b061a72