Filmed mainly in Vienna's splendid "Musikvereinssaal," the Mozart
symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the
world's foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose
principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter,
Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. "Thanks to
Bruno Walter's exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart's works, I
grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one
wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart." (Karl Böhm)
"I will have to give up my nights to it," wrote Mozart to his father in
1782 upon learning of an important new commission: to write a serenade for
the ennoblement of Mayor Sigismund Haffner of Salzburg. Away at last from
Salzburg, having just achieved success in Vienna with his "Entführung aus
dem Serail," and about to marry Constanze, Mozart must have been in an
effervescent mood. Some of his good spirits obviously went into the
serenade, which he transformed a year later into a four-movement symphony
for a concert at the Burgtheater in Vienna, which was attended by the
Emperor. Although Mozart wrote that "the first Allegro must be done with
great fire, and the last should go as fast as possible," he might have
reconsidered his words had he been familiar with the demonic tempi of some
20th-century conductors!
Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though
Wagner was one of Böhm's first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss
led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography,
Böhm wrote that "Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of
this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart." Böhm's
discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into
unforgettable events.
The DVD is also released within the complete "Mozart / Böhm" DVD package which is available in selected stores worldwide and through Amazon or JPC.
