One of my favourite symphonies by my favourite composer and one of best conductors; Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Hope you enjoy and here’s a brief history about the symphony taken from the indispensable Wikipedia.
Brief History
The work was composed in 1778 during Mozart’s unsuccessful job-hunting sojourn in Paris. The composer was then 22 years old. The premiere took place on 12 June 1778 in a private performance in the home of Count Karl Heinrich Joseph von Sickingen, the ambassador of the Electorate of the Palatinate. The public premiere took place six days later in a performance at the Concert Spirituel.
The work received a positive review in the June 26 issue of the Courrier de l’Europe, published in London:
The work was performed again at the Concert Spirituel on 15 August, this time with a new second movement, an Andante replacing the original Andantino in 6/8 (the latter, according to Deutsch, “had failed to please”.)
The work evidently was popular. Deutsch lists several further performances at the Concert Spirituel during 1779, on 18 and 23 March, 23 May, and 3 June; and on 14 May 1780. The work was published in Paris by Sieber and announced for sale 20 February 1779. During the years 1782 to 1788, Sieber’s catalog described it as “in the repertoire of the Concert Spirituel“.
The symphony was later performed in the Burgtheater in Vienna on 11 March 1783 during a benefit concert for Mozart’s sister-in-law, the singer Aloysia Weber.