Luogo e data di registrazione		Théâtre Vevey, Vevey (Svizzera) - 14 agosto / 1 settembre 1966
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Vittorio Negri
	Edizione LP		Philips | 6503 067 | 1 LP
	Prima Edizione CD		Vedi link alla prima edizione in long playing.
	Note		La collana "Musica da Camera" della Philips riedita negli anni '80 alcune registrazioni del Quartetto Italiano.

These two Mozart quartets belong to a set of six presented to Joseph Haydn in 1785. The letter of dedication, which describes them as "...the fruit of long and laborious toil," confirms that Mozart deeply respected Haydn both as a friend and as "father" of the string quartet. He was particularly impressed by Haydn's "Russian" Quartets, which appeared in 1781, and his own G major Quartet, K. 387 (first of the "Haydn" series and completed on New Year's Eve 1782) makes it clear that he was striving for the kind of unity Haydn had sought but in a completely individual way. Haydn recognised at once the genius behind these works and when three of the set were played at Mozart's home in Vienna, he told the composer's father: "...your son is the greatest composer I know either personally or by hearsay." The outstanding characteristics of all six quartets are their brilliant construction and the contrapuntal treatment of the material. In isolation the themes follow simple patterns but it is this very fact that enables Mozart to build with them complex structures which nevertheless are so artistically integrated that they flatter the ear before the intellect. In K. 387 the main theme of the first movement is announced immediately by the first violin and provides the basis for the work as a whole. The second subject appears first on the second violin and, although structurally related to the first theme, is very different in character. The minuet and trio borrow these features; even the dense alternation of piano and forte, is derived from the previous movement. In the restful Andante there is an almost continual development of the main theme until a sparse functional modulation takes us back from the dominant to a cleverly varied recapitulation. The finale is a superbly constructed fugal movement in sonata form later to have its symphonic counterpart in  the "Jupiter" Symphony. After the taut complexity of the fugal treatment of the initial subject the tuneful, almost jocular second subject comes as a surprise. There is a pseudo-development and the work ends with a calm, simple restatement of the initial fugue subject. The A major Quartet, K. 484, completed on January 10, 1784, is sometimes called "The Drum" because of a distinctive drumming bass which emerges in the third movement. The overall pattern is the division of each subject into two sections (the exception being the contrasting third movement) and the juxtaposition of the two parts in counterpoint. The minuet is merely a framework into which Mozart pours music which is almost savage in its intensity, although the end of the romantic trio theme offers temporary relief in its lush, swelling harmony. Real relief comes in the third movement where the tranquillity of the theme extends to the variations, which become increasingly independent. In the finale, the main subject's first section has the rhythmic form of the opening of the minuet and the second section has the rhythmic form of the second section of the first movement's main theme. The second subject io so late in appearing that Mozart lets it fulfil a double role in providing the codetta. The surprise this time comes in the development when we suddendly find ourselves back briefly in the lush, romantic atmosphere of the trio theme. A. David Hogarth

Illustration: Bernardo Bellotto (1720-1780) "Schloss Schönbrunn, seen from the courtyard" (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien)