Finally Solti's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik! Plus mono symphonies.

​This is an interesting release. I'll start with some mixed reactions to having Solti's Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik with the Israel Philharmonic on CD at long last. Recorded in 1959, this is its first CD release. I remember having it on a cassette tape (!) in the 70s. While I'm very pleased to finally have it on CD, I have to admit, after making its acquaintance again after all these many years (decades), I'm reminded that it wasn't really that good! First, the sound - which is the only stereo recording on this Eloquence 2-fer - is thin and gray. Second, the performance is rather perfunctory and shorn of exposition repeats in the 1st and 4th movements, making it over much too quickly! I'm sure time constraints for the original LP at the time dictated the excising of repeats, as it goes against everything Solti believed in. One of the hallmarks of his career was to play things as they were written, including all repeats. Indeed, his 1970s Beethoven symphonies set was notable for being the first to include every single repeat Beethoven notated.

As to the rest of this set, it is (mostly) pure joy. I had not heard any of these recordings before and am generally not fond of (and try to avoid) mono recordings. But I obtained much pleasure from these as they exhibit all the Solti charm, vigor and precision of playing that I've admired in his work all through his career.

Disc one offers three Haydn symphonies, one of which is slightly less satisfactory than the other two and is, surprisingly, the latest one recorded  - #100 in 1954. The sound is rather thin in the upper range, and colorless. And the LPO sometimes has a bit of trouble executing all the notes at Solti's tempos. In contrast, the 1951 #102 is absolutely splendid - extraordinarily well recorded and played (and to be clear: Solti's tempos are some of the fastest you'll hear). Similarly in #103, recorded in 1949, the sound and playing are shockingly good.

The sound improves even more on disc two for the Mozart symphonies #25 and 38 with the LSO. Solti sounds fresher than he does in his remake of #38 (in Chicago) and the 1954 sound here is so good I often forgot it was mono. Indeed, it sounds better than the 1959 stereo sound heard in Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in Israel. The LSO plays sensationally for Solti and these are very enjoyable readings.

Alas, no repeats are played in any of the symphonies either. So if you're wondering how they managed 3 late Haydn symphonies on one disc, it's due to Solti's very brisk tempos and the absence of repeats. But be that as it may, these are most enjoyable, if not quite indispensable. And the sound in the Mozart symphonies and the Haydn #102 is so good, you really will forget they are mono.