Mozart Symphonies - SCO & Sir Charles Mackerras - LiveGuide.com

FRESH LIFE: Veteran conductor Charles Mackerras is among the world's top leaders of Mozart, and here he gives us his latest views of the four greatest symphonies (which he had already recorded brilliantly for Telarc). Linn Records affords him state-of-the-art sonics, and he really does move into new territory with these performances.

OLD AND NEW: Mr. Mackerras has assimilated the lessons of the early-music folks and applied them to a contemporary orchestra. Horns, trumpets and drums contribute brilliance, but the woodwinds give the first-movement developments and the slow movements their uniquely poignant character. The silken violins might seem undercharacterized to fans of bygone maestros, but they are certainly seductive.

BOTTOM LINE: These may be the best versions of Symphonies 38 and 39 ever recorded, and the first movement of the G Minor and the fugal finale of the Jupiter are breathtaking - a must for Mozart lovers.