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Mozart piano concertos

S

Schnitger

pfm Member
Are there any recommendations for recordings of the complete piano concertos? I have the Perahia set and a few discs from Gardiner/Bilson, Tate/Uchida, Brendel/Marriner etc, - recordings from the 1980s essentially - when I was exploring this repertoire for the first time, but they seem a bit dated now. I heard a new release of concerto no. 20 in D minor on Radio 3's Record Review last Saturday, with Seong-Jin Cho and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and I was struck by it. The combination of modern instruments (with gut strings?) with period sensibilities seems to have moved on from the 1980s-90s period performance movement and offered a great synthesis of period and 'traditional' performing styles. The reviewer put his finger on it when he referred to the muscularity and clarity of the performance, and mentioned how many pianists using modern Steinways tend to hold back and 'beautify' the music - Uchida certainly does that IMO. This recording didn't do that.

Does anyone know of a set that has a similar aesthetic?

Thanks
 
You could try listening to Zacharias/Lausanne (MDG label). I'm not sure it qualifies as muscular, but it is IMHO a good recent cycle with excellent sound quality. Modern instruments.
 
PsB said:
You could try listening to Zacharias/Lausanne (MDG label). I'm not sure it qualifies as muscular, but it is IMHO a good recent cycle with excellent sound quality. Modern instruments.
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Wholeheartedly agree. Zacharias on MDG, along with Schiff/Vegh on Decca, are my two go-to sets. I would not call either particularly muscular, but then I would not call Cho muscular, either. For muscular, I'd say something more like Rudolf Serkin, or even Robert Casadesus, though both are from the decades past and are not complete cycles. Maybe the Anda cycle, aged as it is, might be worth a consideration.
 
PsB said:
You could try listening to Zacharias/Lausanne (MDG label). I'm not sure it qualifies as muscular, but it is IMHO a good recent cycle with excellent sound quality. Modern instruments.
Click to expand...

The sound quality is good. The performances are very sunny, the edgy dark side of Mozart doesn’t get a look in. For me that’s a deal breaker.
 
Schnitger said:
Are there any recommendations for recordings of the complete piano concertos? I have the Perahia set and a few discs from Gardiner/Bilson, Tate/Uchida, Brendel/Marriner etc, - recordings from the 1980s essentially - when I was exploring this repertoire for the first time, but they seem a bit dated now. I heard a new release of concerto no. 20 in D minor on Radio 3's Record Review last Saturday, with Seong-Jin Cho and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and I was struck by it. The combination of modern instruments (with gut strings?) with period sensibilities seems to have moved on from the 1980s-90s period performance movement and offered a great synthesis of period and 'traditional' performing styles. The reviewer put his finger on it when he referred to the muscularity and clarity of the performance, and mentioned how many pianists using modern Steinways tend to hold back and 'beautify' the music - Uchida certainly does that IMO. This recording didn't do that.

Does anyone know of a set that has a similar aesthetic?

Thanks
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I recommend Kocsis, and possibly the first Zacharias on EMI too. Kocsis seems to me to play the concertos like a latter day Edwin Fischer, better than Edwin Fischer I think, and certainly with better cadenzas! The younger Zacharias is exuberant and at times very imaginative, with some witty post-modern intrusions, it’s not a problem and some of the set is essential to hear IMO.

My last modern piano Mozart concerto experiences on record were Richter/Muti in 491, and Martin Helmchen in 595 - Helmchen is a fabulous pianist I think.
 
Todd A said:
Wholeheartedly agree. Zacharias on MDG, along with Schiff/Vegh on Decca, are my two go-to sets. I would not call either particularly muscular, but then I would not call Cho muscular, either. For muscular, I'd say something more like Rudolf Serkin, or even Robert Casadesus, though both are from the decades past and are not complete cycles. Maybe the Anda cycle, aged as it is, might be worth a consideration.
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Perhaps 'muscular' is the wrong term, but the Cho recording of no.20 doesn't have the sense of over-restraint, which I get from Uchida. It seems to have more forward propulsion and a sense of energy. I would say that's true also of the CoE's playing.

I'll listen to the recommendations made here on Qobuz - assuming they're available - with a view to purchasing a set.
 

This is not actually muscular, but it is the opposite of fey!

I think it the best recording of the music I have ever heard.

The problem with an integral cycle of these great concertos is that it means you loose out on so many great individual recordings.

Just two pennies' worth. George
 
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Fabulous performances, full of wit and life, well recorded.
 
Outstanding period instrument cycle by
Viviana Sofronitsky (fortepiano) and the Musica Antiqua Collegium Varsoviense
11CDs for £26 extraordinary
DGP
 
It's a pity Uchida's 80s recording of the D Minor with Tate is a bit mediocre as a recording because I really like the performance. Yes, you can say she does 'beautify', but less so on the D Minor I think. Whatever you think of the old recordings, she was brilliant when she did the D Minor at RFH this February. She certainly had all the drama and dynamics this time.
 
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