Symphony No. 35 (The Haffner) by Mozart reviewed by Roger Parker 16th September 2023

In July 1782, Leopold Mozart wrote to his son. He wanted a symphony for Salzburg family friend Sigismund Haffner to celebrate the ennoblement of his son, Sigismund Jnr. In a famous letter Mozart replied from Vienna "I am up to my eyes in work... And now you ask me to write a new symphony! I must just spend the night over it, for that is the only way... I shall work as fast as possible and, as far as haste permits, I shall turn out good work."
When Leopold returned the score and parts from Salzburg ahead of the symphony's first public performance, in Vienna the following year, Mozart wrote back "My new Haffner symphony has positively amazed me... I had forgotten every single note of it. It must surely produce a good effect." And, with a tweak to the orchestration and some judicious pruning, it surely did. The celebratory music, with its exuberant outer movements, was an instant hit with the Viennese public and, unusually, even the Emperor stayed until the end of the concert.
Roger Parker's Building a Library choice:
Orchestra Mozart
Claudio Abbado
DG Archiv 4777598