Mozart Piano Concertos

[SonicMan46]

Dave,

Apparently that Sofronitsky set has had a stimulating effect. 

Yes indeed, Antoine - re-listened to half that set over the weekend; Viviana S. is a joy on the fortepiano; now should I REALLY add Dan B.?    Dave

[Antoine Marchand]

Yes indeed, Antoine - re-listened to half that set over the weekend; Viviana S. is a joy on the fortepiano; now should I REALLY add Dan B.?    Dave

Dave, if you are looking for some excellent performances of Mozart's piano concertos on modern instruments, I would recommend to check out the interpretations by Richard Goode and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Nonesuch). It's not a complete cycle, but there are several wonderful discs there. 

[Scarpia]

They've probably been mention here somewhere, but the O'Conor/Mackerras recordings on Telarc are splendid, as are those Brendel/Mackerras recordings that I have heard.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Mozart's piano concertos are very popular with my local classical radio station. In fact, they seem to be aired more often than Bolero, even! One of the manifestations of this repetitiveness is the chance to occasionally catch one of these concertos mid-performance with no prior knowledge of who the performers are. It's kinda fun to listen for a while - usually while I'm parked in my car - and gauge the interpretations completely unencumbered by prejudices which might otherwise influence my assessment of the performance.

A couple weeks ago I caught the finale of no. 25 - unknown performers - and was intrigued by the interpretation. Not bad, with a lively pianist and good accompaniment, but missing some of the flexibility I prefer in my Mozart, principally due the pianist's habit of preferring energy and forward momentum over rumination and color. The pianist turned out to be Argerich. While I adore Argerich in other repertoire this is the second time I've heard her in a Mozart PC (or part of one anyway) and felt somewhat disengaged. She's extremely good, but her Mozart will never be my daily bread.

Then came this past Wednesday night. Parked the car and lo and behold on came the finale of no. 22. Pianist and orchestra unknown. Listened a bit and had difficulty determining whether I liked what I was hearing. Interesting, but was it energetic enough? Perhaps Argerich had the right idea after all.

Sticking with it, I began to notice that while this pianist was something of the anti-Argerich, he/she definitely had a battle plan as to the solo part. What I began to notice was an emphasis on color, subtlety, nuance, and something amounting to, well, "perfect timing". IOW, there was a confidence to the playing which seemed to catch every Mozartian "knuckle-busting twist" and "off-balance turn" in perfect stride, while the mystery soloist never let his/her guard down for a moment as far as keeping alive the all important Mozartian symmetry (balance, balance, balance). The whole of the movement pulled together tightly as a result of the concentrated emphasis on the subtly whereas sometimes the opposite can occur, with damage being done from undue focus on the minutia. But not here. Timing. These folks have it. And it was mesmerizing. 

So...then it all ended. The moment of truth had arrived - who were the performers? My heart stopped...

Schiff/Vegh.

Whaddya know! My old standbys. Good to know after all these years they still pack a wallop!

[mc ukrneal]

Mozart's piano concertos are very popular with my local classical radio station. In fact, they seem to be aired more often than Bolero, even! One of the manifestations of this repetitiveness is the chance to occasionally catch one of these works mid-performance with no prior knowledge of who the performers are. It's kinda fun to listen for a while - usually while I'm parked - and gauge the interpretations completely unencumbered by prejudices which might otherwise influence my assessment of the performance.

A couple weeks ago I caught the finale of no. 25 - unknown performers - and was intrigued by the interpretation. Not bad, with a lively pianist and good accompaniment, but missing some of the flexibility I prefer in my Mozart, principally due the pianist's habit of preferring energy and forward momentum over rumination and color. The pianist turned out to be Argerich. While I adore Argerich in other repertoire this is the second time I've heard her in a Mozart PC (or part of one anyway) and felt somewhat disengaged. She's extremely good, but her Mozart will never be my daily bread.

Then came this past Wednesday night. Parked the car and lo and behold on came the finale of no. 22. Pianist and orchestra unknown. Listened a bit and had difficulty determining whether I liked what I was hearing. Interesting, but was it energetic enough? Perhaps Argerich had the right idea after all.

Sticking with it, I began to notice that while this pianist was something of the anti-Argerich, he/she definitely had a battle plan as to the solo part. What I began to notice was an emphasis on color, subtlety, nuance, and something amounting to, well, "perfect timing". IOW, there was a confidence to the playing which seemed to catch every Mozartian "knuckle-busting twist" and "off-balance turn" in perfect stride, while the mystery soloist never let his/her guard down for a moment as far as keeping alive the all important Mozartian symmetry (balance, balance, balance). The whole of the movement pulled together tightly as a result of the concentrated emphasis on the subtly whereas sometimes the opposite can occur, with damage being done from undue focus on the minutia. But not here. Timing. These folks have it. And it was mesmerizing. 

So...then it all ended. The moment of truth had arrived - who were the performers? My heart stopped...

Schiff/Vegh.

Whaddya know! My old standbys. Good to know after all these years they still pack a wallop!

Great story!! I enjoy listening to things blind like that.

[DavidRoss]

Great story!! I enjoy listening to things blind like that.

Yep!  Sure has helped me to overcome some stupid prejudices and to get fired up about recordings I never would have ventured to try otherwise.  And the Schiff/Vegh Mozart PCs Don recommended years ago still top my list for most consistently satisfying cycle.  In fact, I think I'll throw on #20 right now!

[George]

I've been enjoying Edwin Fischer's 2 volumes of Mozart on Pearl. Man, did he have a lovely tone.

[Philoctetes]

I'm not a huge fan of these works (outside of Lortie), but I just heard the Jarrett today (No. 9,17, and 20), and was fairly impressed with it. It was done on the ECM label so the sound is just stunning, easily the best part of the recording, but the music was also played handily.

[Antoine Marchand]

These days I have been considering to add some "new" Mozart piano concertos to my collection.

I currently have complete sets of Bilson/Gardiner (PI) and Uchida/Tate, several Brendel/Marriner (those Philips Twoffer) and also many single recordings. That said, I have discarded my natural first option (Sofronitsky/Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra) because I generally don't enjoy their tempi and the orchestra sound too much harsh and unrefined to my taste.

Well, I have been considering two options: András Schiff and Murray Perahia. Usually I would prefer Schiff, but listening to some samples I have had some problems with Vegh's direction and the sound of the Camerata Academica des Mozarteums Salzburg, also a bit crude IMO.

On the other hand, the ECO sound rather crystalline in these ears, although Perahia can be a bit too much sweet... but after all is Perahia (I have just one disc of his cycle and it's fine and apparently the complete collection was successfully remastered). 

I will be interested in your opinions.

[George]

Have you considered this one, Antoine? I think it's excellent. Less sweet than Perahia.

[SonicMan46]

 

Have you considered this one, Antoine? I think it's excellent. Less sweet than Perahia.

Antoine - I assumed that you owned the Viviana set on fortepiano?   

I'd agree w/ George on Anda (was my first full set of these works); I also own the Schiff box, and despite Vegh being the conductor in both sets, Anda seems a little more dreamy & romantic in these works (some would call saccahrine - not a problem w/ me, though) than Schiff, so I guess that you would have to compare some tracks to see which performer might be your preference?  But hard to beat Vegh in either of these boxes.

Now the other day, the Barenboim box arrived - listened to the first 3 discs yesterday (and will continue this weekend) - I was really impressed - the comments made by others on the previous page or so of this thread were spot on - this makes my 5th box of these works and all are different!

Good luck in your choice(s) - Dave 

[Antoine Marchand]

Have you considered this one, Antoine? I think it's excellent. Less sweet than Perahia.

That set has been in my cart for a long time, George. But for some reason I had forgotten it now. Thanks for the reminder! 

[MishaK]

Now the other day, the Barenboim box arrived - listened to the first 3 discs yesterday (and will continue this weekend) - I was really impressed - the comments made by others on the previous page or so of this thread were spot on - this makes my 5th box of these works and all are different!

Glad you like it.    BTW, there is a live concerto No. 22 with 'Boimz and the CSO from his last two weeks as CSO music director which can be heard streaming live online through January + a slow movement from one of the piano sonatas as an encore (+ Bruckner 9) on the CSO website.

[Antoine Marchand]

Antoine - I assumed that you owned the Viviana set on fortepiano?   

No, really not, Dave; I listened to a lot of samples, but decided that it was not my cup of tea.

... agree w/ George on Anda (was my first full set of these works); I also own the Schiff box, and despite Vegh being the conductor in both sets, Anda seems a little more dreamy & romantic in these works (some would call saccahrine - not a problem w/ me, though) than Schiff..., so I guess that you would have to compare some tracks to see which performer might be your preference?  But hard to beat Vegh in either of these boxes.

Thanks! It's a very useful comment and certainly Anda looks very attractive on the basis of that comparison. 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

...and despite Vegh being the conductor in both sets...

Actually Vegh isn't the conductor in both sets. It's Anda who directs from the keyboard in his set.

If romanticism is favored, I suppose Anda might fit the bill. I once had that set (on CD) but cooled on it after time and have since sold it (still have one LP, though).

There's something to be said for taking the ruminative route in Mozart. But "ruminative" isn't - emphatically ISN'T - a dirty word! It all depends on what a performer does with it. Infused with all the attributes I listed above from Schiff/Vegh the results can mesmerize. It all depends I suppose on what one is looking for in a performance. Yes, I enjoy being slapped out of my comfy chair by a technically-whiz-bang extrovert performance as much as the next guy. But on the whole I prefer to be drawn in to a performance. Not as easy as it sounds, I assure you.

All the attributes I listed above from Schiff/Vegh give me the experience of being taken by the hand and guided deep into the music. The attendant results read something like: ENCOUNTER WITH THE MUSIC!! Yes, as I said, there is more than one way to musical nirvana but in Mozart if there's nothing more than a techno-show on display I end up in snooze land.

Give me color, nuance, shading, subtlety, flexibility, and of course, rhythmic snappiness in my Mozart or don't bother showing up. 

To urkneal and Dave: thanks!

To Antoine: I'm not sure what the Schiff/Vegh clips are telling you but I would think after reading my description of Schiff/Vegh "crude" would be the very last way to describe them.

Anyway, good luck!

[Scarpia]

There's something to be said for taking the ruminative route in Mozart. But "ruminative" isn't - emphatically ISN'T - a dirty word! It all depends on what a performer does with it.

For ruminative Mozart I think Barenboim/Berline takes the cake, both for the extent indulged and for the level of success.  (And the orchestra sounds so good!)

[Mandryka]

These days I have been considering to add some "new" Mozart piano concertos to my collection. ...

You've already got one quite good set with the Bilson. Why do you wan't another?

If I want to "add some "new" Mozart piano concertos to [your] collection. "  why not try individual concertos played in styles which contrast markedly with two existing surveys?  Pletnev for example; or Bezuidenhout. Or Richter. Or Schnabel.

[Antoine Marchand]

You've already got one quite good set with the Bilson. Why do you wan't another?

If I want to "add some "new" Mozart piano concertos to [your] collection. "  why not try individual concertos played in styles which contrast markedly with two existing surveys?  Pletnev for example; or Bezuidenhout. Or Richter. Or Schnabel.

Well, it is simply what I want.

I want a complete survey played by one pianist, to search certain unity of concepts.

Additionaly, as I said before, I have a lot of individual and contrasting recordings of these concertos, but this time I would like a new complete set... that's all.   

[Antoine Marchand]

To Antoine: I'm not sure what the Schiff/Vegh clips are telling you but I would think after reading my description of Schiff/Vegh "crude" would be the very last way to describe them.

Anyway, good luck!

Thanks, sometimes samples are a terrible reference; but at the moment they are the only way that I have. 

[Que]

[...] I have discarded my natural first option (Sofronitsky/Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra) because I generally don't enjoy their tempi and the orchestra sound too much harsh and unrefined to my taste.

Most interesting comment! Because it seems to confirm my impressions of sampling the set - reason why I decided not* to get it. What would seem a primary attraction for many is the "equality" in the balance between the fortepiano and the ochestra, or should I say: the prominence of the fortepiano?

*crucial word corrrected!

Q