Leader, Philip Whiteway
Conducted by Peter Montgomery
Mozart's opera Figaro had been produced in Prague and the whole city had gone mad about it. Mozart thereupon paid Prague a visit and his reception was such that it would seem too much could not be made of him. He promised them another opera, which presently turned out to be Don Giovanni. He also gave two Concerts during his stay, at one of which the Symphony No. 38 in D, already composed three years before, was played. It was received with such tremendous enthusiasm that it has since been known as the ' Prague' Symphony. Both technically and aesthetically it is worthy to rank next to the three last and greatest of Mozart's symphonies. It is in three movements and scored for a comparatively small orchestra, without clarinets and trombones. The whole work is bright, with a long slow movement full of beautiful melodies. The last movement is a riot of gaiety.