The previous time I wrote about a recording of the Mozart symphonies is quite a long time ago. With reason: I find them boring. No amount of Neville Marriner can do anything about that. The liner notes that are included in this impressive box are also for a large part about this. Mozart is not really known for his symphonies. Maybe late in life he gave them a bit more attention.
In Mozart’s time symphonies were played while people were still settling in, drinking coffee or having an Apfelstrudel. They were the muzak of Viennese society. Only as he got older, Mozart created longer and more challenging works in the genre. And when Beethoven came around, the world had changed: instead of the symphony introducing the concert, evenings started with a piano concert to be followed by a symphony. In some way, this box set gives testimony to that.