A belated thank you for your support, Antonio.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 24 (Alfred Brendel)


Information

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  1. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: 1. Allegro
  2. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: 2. Romance
  3. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: 3. Rondo (Allegro Assai)
  4. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491: 1. (Allegro)
  5. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491: 2. Larghetto
  6. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491: 3. (Allegretto)

Alfred Brendel, piano
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Charles Mackerras, conductor

Date: 1999
Label: Philips
http://www.deccaclassics.com/us/cat/4626222


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Typically thought-provoking readings from a master interpreter of Mozart

Brendel's conception of Mozart's two minor-key concertos has altered in countless nuances and emphases but little in fundamentals since his Philips recordings with Marriner made back in 1973. The sensibility, pianistic refinement and sheer questing intelligence of his playing remain as compelling as ever. Neither performance will entirely please those who favour a barnstorming, Sturm und Drang approach. More than in 1973, Brendel is at times more concerned to draw out the music's elegiac resignation than to highlight its more obvious passion and turbulence; and the coda of K491 distils a rueful grace unlike any other performance I have heard. But if the first movements may be insufficiently combustible for some tastes, Brendel's readings combine a rare feeling for classical balance and proportion with wonderfully inventive detail. More than most pianists he constantly illuminates both the smaller and larger shapes of the music with his range of colour and dynamics. In both opening movements, for instance, he brings a speaking eloquence to the piano's initial solo theme and then finds a subtly altered tone of voice, in response to the gradually darkening musical landscape, for each of its reappearances in the development. Another Brendel hallmark is his variety of tone and articulation in rapid passagework, which is always purposefully directed in accordance with its place in the overall scheme. As before, he provides apt and - crucially - spontaneous-sounding embellishments and 'in-filling' at fermatas, this time allowing himself greater freedom in decorating the spare lines of the slow movements; and, again, he uses his own cadenzas in both concertos, more adventurous in their thematic development than any of Mozart's own surviving examples but otherwise models of style and concision.

Brendel has never been one to dawdle indulgently in Mozart's andantes and larghettos; and both the Romanze slow movements unfold at natural, flowing tempos, that in K466 a notch more swiftly than in 1973; and I like the hints of playfulness Brendel brings out here and in, say, the two major-key variations in the finale of K491. Where this new version definitely scores is in the orchestral accompaniments. Marriner, so often an ideal partner in Brendel's complete Mozart cycle, can be a shade too smooth and well-groomed in these particular works; and you only have to compare the two recordings in the opening tutti of K491 to hear the extra character Mackerras brings to the music - the impact of raw, louring brass (tamed by Marriner) at strategic moments, for instance, or his attentive shaping of inner strands to enhance the tension. The recording has an attractive spaciousness and ambient warmth, though in the wind-saturated K491 the keyboard occasionally obscures important thematic ideas on oboes, clarinets and bassoons. In sum, though, a disc to add to the short list - which includes, inter alia, Kempff in K491 and Perahia, Schiff, Curzon and Shelley in both concertos - of durable recordings of these inexhaustible works.

-- Richard Wigmore, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: *****
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Concerti-20-24-Mozart/dp/B00002R2SR

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 in Salzburg – 5 December 1791 in Vienna) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Till his death in Vienna, he composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart

***

Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931 in Wiesenberg, Czechoslovakia) is an Austrian pianist, poet and author, particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and especially Beethoven. Brendel never had much formal piano training and was largely self-taught. He gave his first public recital at the age of 17, made his first recording at 21, then went on to make a string of other records, including three complete sets of the Beethoven piano sonatas, and was the first performer to record the complete solo piano works of Beethoven. Brendel gave his final concert on 20 February 2008 at Carnegie Hall, New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Brendel

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks
Links in comment
Enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you ever so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Ronald,
    Thanks again for your generous sharing! Please re-up this recording and the other Brendel/Mackerras Mozart concerto recordings when you have a chance. Grateful always - Thorlief

    ReplyDelete
  4. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Skip Ad' (or 'Get link').
    If you are asked to download or install anything, IGNORE, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If MEGA shows 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' message, try to create a free account.

    http://usheethe.com/gTlO
    or
    https://uii.io/7lRgrtjD
    or
    https://exe.io/GCMV8nK

    ReplyDelete