Muzio Clementi' s 4 Symphonies / Sony

[hyperdanny]

i hope this doesn't duplicate some past discussion already present on the forum...

While I love and treasure my D'Avalos set, I would not mind something more up-to-date soundwise (at times, the early digital ASV sound is a little harsh and opaque).
Recently I found out, entirely by chance since I saw no publicity or reviews, that there actually IS a competitor, a very recent set of the 4 Symphonies, recorded by Sony with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg conducted by Ivor Bolton.
The orchestra appears, at least in the pictures I found, like a sizable ensemble, so it looks like they could provide the symphonies (especially the 4th) the big-boned approach that I like and that , truth be told,  the Philharmonia gave D'Avalos in spades.
Of Bolton, I only have the Berwald cd he made with the RPO, I like it, but it's not enough to form an opinion.
Does anyone have this set? Opinions? Thanks!

[chill319]

Like you I have and enjoy the d'Avalos recordings (including the two opus 18 symphonies), published by ASV. I have not heard the versions of the numbered symphonies performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Claudio Scimone on Erato or by the Rome Symphony Orchestra under Francesco La Vecchia on Naxos.

Since Clementi left no definitive versions of the numbered symphonies, for me a big question would be whether Bolton, like d'Avalos, uses the Spada edition. I see no mention of that edition in PR or reviews; also, hbdirect.com lists the first symphony as being completed by Casella. Unless I'm mistaken, Casella's edition precedes that of Spada, and thus this suggests that Bolton is not using the same scores as d'Avalos -- at least in the first symphony. (Unless, of course, hbdirect has it wrong.)

You can hear excerpts of the Bolton performance at https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/sinfonien/hnum/8610032.

[jdperdrix]

By comparing superficially, it sounds like Bolton and La Vecchia use the Spada version (as did d'Avalos and Scimone). Strangely Bolton adds a continuo pianoforte, which I find disturbing at times (introduction of symphony n. 3, for example).

[eschiss1]

 The source condition of Clementi's symphonies, if I remember one or two Notes (the journal) and Musical Times reviews of scores and recordings, is such that editorial intervention for most of them (based on ms parts I suspect) has had to be extensive (and one reviewer gave reasons at great length why the Spada edition was only a improvement over the Casella, not a good realisation of Clementi's intentions even so far as these -can- be sussed out! i.e. both a bit too interventionist or just misreading the parts.)