John Dalmas wrote:

>Haydn wrote 104-plus symphonies.  Well, are we counting beans, or are we
>counting significant compositions.

I'm not quite sure how to respond to the above.  We have here one of
the greatest composers of the symphonic form who wrote more than 100
symphonies, and John evidently considers most of them not significant.
I'll assume that John has highly discriminationg taste; that can be a
curse.  I consider each of the symphonies worthy of performance and
recording.

This does bring up the larger issue of how to view the early works of
composers.  Mature Mozart is better than early Mozart; is there are point
in listening to his early works? That's a question each clasical music
lover makes through his/her decisions on buying recordings and attending
concerts.

My decision has been to buy and listen to the early works because I enjoy
them.  No, they don't possess the depth and outstanding craftsmanship of
the later works, but Mozart's imprint is on every early work, and each of
them has rewards to provide the listener.

>In all fairness, I suppose there's something to be said for James
>Levine's traversal of all Mozart 41.  Then again, something ought
>be said about allocation of resources.

Every person on Earth can improve his/her own allocation of resources.
I'm not going to concern myself how Levine, Hogwood, or John Dalmas
allocate their resources.  Levine felt like recording all the Mozart
symphonies - I have no problem with that.

>"The Good are the enemies of the Best" - Anonymous

Since this quotation has an anonymous source, I don't mind saying that I
consider it of no merit.  Much better to rephrase:

   "Collectivism is the enemy of the Best" - Don Satz

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]