Mozart: the Late Symphonies Nos. 25, 29, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, and 41.(Sound Recording Review)

Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. DG 474 349-2 (3-disc set).

By and large, when Bernstein left the New York Philharmonic his performances tended to change. Especially after he took up with the Vienna Philharmonic, his interpretations seemed to slow down considerably, lose some of the electric spark that drove his earlier work. Some people attributed this to age and called the later readings "mature." Others just thought he was getting old and tired. Not so, however, with these mid-'80s' recordings of the late Mozart symphonies. They show no signs of anything slowing down whatsoever.

Taken as a whole, this may be the best all-around collection of late Mozart symphonies available today, and they come in DG's mid-price Trio series, a bargain by any standards. Every piece of music on the three discs sounds exactly right. Not only right, but sometimes downright wondrous. Nos. 36 and 41, for instance, the gems of the set, are never ordinary yet they feel comfortably worn. The tempos are perfectly judged, the caressing ...