Mozart Divertimenti for Strings Serenata & Notturna (FIM, 2005)

MOZART Mozart Divertimenti for Strings Serenata & Notturna released in 2005 by First Impression Music (FIM). Winston Ma, says “I consider the string tone and nuance of this recording the best from my entire collection, including all other labels.” Marriner recorded the Divertimenti and the Serenata Notturna in 1968 and issued them on the Argo label, the home of so many fine recordings that still sound as good today as they did back then. Only in this case, they can sound even better.

FIM does up the recording in the 24-bit XRCD process developed by JVC, a technology so precise and so exacting it makes the formulas for string theory seem crude by comparison. Not that the source material doesn’t sound good even in its regular CD release; it’s just that this FIM remastering sounds that little bit better in terms of dynamics and transparency.

Mozart filled his Divertimenti with a youthful exuberance, an exuberance appropriate to the composer’s age when he wrote them, sixteen, although they are by no means immature works. They are light and airy, to be sure, scored entirely for strings, but they have immense gravitas, too.