Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Bohm, Karl

Composer: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Serenade No. 6 in D major, K. 239, "Serenata notturna"

Venue: Grosser Musikvereinssaal, Vienna

Playing Time: 00:14:00

Television Director: Kach, Hugo

Catalogue Number: A05501054

Karl Böhm leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this little work
written by Mozart in Salzburg in January 1776. What sets this work apart from other serenades is its scoring for two small orchestras, which produces a deliberate echo effect. One can almost imagine the courtly guests bantering amidst the two groups of players at the opposite ends of a grand salon. Although the work begins with a march, called "Marcia maestoso," it soon gives up all martial pretenses for lightness and grace. The final Rondo is particularly spirited and frisky, with episodes of a nature that must have made more than one guest stop mid-conversation!

Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm's first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that "Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart." Böhm's discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.