Mozart:
Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385 “Haffner” (1783)
Harmoniemusik of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384 (1782) - Overture
Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 271k/ K. 314 (1777)
Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297/300a “Paris” (1778)

The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (AKAMUS) launches a series of Mozart symphonies to appear on Pentatone, starting with the composer’s “Paris” and “Haffner” symphonies. On this first album, the works are coupled with his enchanting Oboe Concerto – performed by the ensemble’s first oboist Xenia Löffler – and the bold overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Mozart’s own woodwind arrangement. Taken together, these pieces demonstrate the rich palette and expressive power of Mozart’s music in the period between 1777 and 1783, during which he finally managed to spread his wings and leave his hometown of Salzburg. The Akademie für Alte Musik is generally seen as one of the best period instrument ensembles of today, and has a substantial Pentatone discography, including CANTATA with Bejun Mehta (2018), Handel’s Concerti grossi Op. 3 and 6 (released in 2019 and 2020), Telemann’s Miriways (2020), Handel’s Messiah (2020), Haydn’s L’isola disabitata (2021) and La Passione with Christina Landshamer (2022).

“We are very pleased that, together with Pentatone, we are bundling our decades of intensive preoccupation with the music of Viennese Classicism in general and Mozart in particular in a project that follows Mozart’s symphonies and his instrumental concertos with great enthusiasm. For his contemporaries, his symphonies and concertos were full of new worlds of sound and ideas. Even 250 years later they amaze with every new performance, every new listening experience. To this day, seemingly familiar things appear in a new light.“ (Bernhard Forck, Concertmaster, AKAMUS)