This isn’t bad by any means, but it very closely duplicates a similar program from Andrew Manze and the English Concert on Harmonia Mundi containing the Serenata notturna, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and A Musical Joke. That disc is fabulous, the standard-setter for this music on period instruments, and this one isn’t. The Serenata suffers from a sluggish finale, with stiff phrasing of its main theme, though the interpretation as a whole lacks neither charm nor polish. Eine kleine Nachtmusik is lively and well played, if without that particular gusto that the best performances, whether from Manze or Szell (Sony), bring to its outer movements.
In this performance, A Musical Joke simply isn’t funny. Partly it’s an issue of comic timing (or the lack of it), particularly in the minuet and finale, and partly it’s a question of timbre. For example, the horns make so many rude noises (including the inevitable stopped tones), and are so loud, that it’s hard to tell if Mozart is having fun or the players are just overdoing the “period sound” thing–witness the underplayed zany lip trills in the finale. There’s just not enough distinction between the comic and the mere mechanics of sound production. The Notturno for Four Orchestras represents a more enticing bonus than the two shorter works that HM offers, and the engineering is excellent, but when it comes to musical value there’s just no comparison.
