Track Listing:
Symphony No. 77 in
B Flat Major
1.
Vivace
2. Andante sostenuto
3. Menuetto: Allegro
4. Finale: Allegro spiritoso
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(5:53)
(5:15)
(2:08)
(4:16)
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Symphony No. 78 in
C Minor
5.
Vivace
6. Adagio
7. Menuetto: Allegretto
8. Finale: Presto
|
(7:21)
(6:46)
(3:09)
(3:42)
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Symphony No. 79 in
F Major
9.
Allegro con spirito
10. Adagio cantabile - un poco allegro
11. Menuetto
12. Finale: Vivace
|
(6:25)
(5:30)
(3:19)
(4:40)
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Review Excerpt
A trio of
symphonies from the early 1780s played with panache by this Manchester-based
band..having just played again the disc of the three symphonies
preceding these, Nos. 74-6, in performances by the Cologne Chamber
Orchestra under Helmut Muller-Bruhl, I am the more impressed by
the extra stylishness of these readings with the Northern Chamber
Orchestra, notably the way that Nicholas Ward keeps the music
moving in slow movements, which, with the Cologne orchestra, tends
to drag. Not only that, the lightness and resilience of the performances
in outer movements is matched by the fresh, transparent recording.
It is a measure of Ward's success that in general I even prefer
these new recordings to the vintage ones of Dorati on Decca..
Ward's choice of speeds cannot be faulted and he brings out the
Sturm und Drang element which haunts the first movement of the
C minor Symphony, No. 78, as well as the largely minor-key development
section of the finale of No. 77, one of the first examples of
a sonata rondo - a wonderful moment.
Edward
Greenfield. Gramophone Awards Issue, 1999
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