Mozart Marathon

The first 12 days of 2011 on BBC radio 3 were devoted to programming that would play the entire works of Mozart. Every note that he wrote. There were worthwhile programmes and fine performances contained within this marathon but the concept was a banal one and gave rise to the real danger that a force fed diet would ultimately lead to indigestion. Nobody would have been able to listen throughout the 12 days, no matter how much recording and time shifting was attempted. I wonder about the point of all those juvenile operas being broadcast in the early hours of the morning. Anyway, the reason I am bothering to comment on this is that the latest edition of BBC Music magazine was a tie in with the Mozart fest and the free cover disk contains performances of the Mass in C Minor and Symphony No 40. I happen to have both of these works on disk already and so don't propose to comment on the music. Suffice it to say that both pieces receive very competant performances. The mass is played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by David Robertson and with soloists Jeremy Ovenden ( tenor ) James Rutherford ( bass ) and sopranos Laura Aikin and Emma Bell. Both are live recordings, the symphony from last year's Proms by the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda.