I picked this Crossroads recording up this week while fritting away my lunch hour. This got me excited since I've never heard of this Nippon Columbia issue and it was another Mozart recording by one of the greatest Mozartians of the 20th century (well at least I think so).
The Swiss conductor Peter Maag was indeed a unique fellow. During the 50's he was very much up and coming, recording acclaimed issues with both the Suisse Romande Orchestra and the LSO. Then, at a crucial time, he up and skipped town - literally...retiring for a two year stint in a Buddhist monastery. Well, that little sabbatical pretty much nixed a "major" career and Maag spent the remainder of his life conducting and recording with very much second, and third tier ensembles.
Now...this does not mean that the man was a lightweight...his interpretations, especially those centered around Mozart are powerful, insightful and very different! Listen to symphony 39, the "slow" movement and you WILL hear the clear link with Schubert...yes, Mozart was the first Romantic! In fact, Maag's Mozart gets you thinking, "what if he lived a long life and continued his miraculous development?" Might Beethoven have been rendered less potent? Really fascinating listening here!
My qualm with this recording is that the bass is very muffled and spread out. It loses focus and its probably the combination of hall and engineering. This recording was released in the US in 1967 so I think it was probably recorded in the mid 60's. The orchestra is good though hardly exceptional. There is skip in the final movement of 39 that I tried my best to fix. I do not have the skills of Buster, Frank at Music Parlour, Bill Anderson, Neal or my new friend Larry at Vinyl Fatigue. These guys are great, I'm a hopeless hack!
Anyway, enough of my blather..enjoy Peter Maag!
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