Track Listing

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro assai
4. Allegro
5. Andante
6. Allegretto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #336120 in Music
• Released on: 1992-05-28
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Richard Goode is what we call in this business "a pianist's pianist." His technique is impeccable, his interpretations invariably cultured, elegant, and comprehensively musical. Because he has made his reputation principally in performances of chamber music, he hasn't established the sort of egomaniacal artistic profile of the great piano virtuosos, but that's no loss in Mozart. Indeed, the chamber music-like give and take between the solo and the members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is an outstanding feature of these performances. More even than "period" instrument versions, you have a real sense of dialogue among the players, and that's what Mozart's concertos are all about. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

One of the best classical CD's I own
Can't figure the other review here -- I hear nothing unbalanced or tinny on this recording. In fact, of the 50 or so Mozart CD's I own, this is one of my favorites. Goode's technique is impeccable: his Mozart is sensuous and beautiful, yet without the modern flourishes that can make a mess of what is after all classical, not romantic, music. The second movement of #17, perhaps the most astonishing and unexpected music Mozart ever wrote for piano, is absolutely superb: listen to the famous modulation moving from ppp to fff through several keys, and see if your hair doesn't stand on end (this is a prime example of classical music providing sensory pleasure through the masterful handling of form).

Fair
There are so many other recordings of these concertos worth listening to, it's surprising this recording was even made. The mastering, for starters ("full digital recording" it says on the CD cover) causes the orchestra to sound unbalanced and tinny, exaggerating the little sloppy mistakes and intonation differences between instrumentalists. Richard Goode's playing is muted in comparison, so we hear mostly the orchestra overpowering him. This comes as a huge surprise since in most concert halls, a lone grand piano can easily stand up to a Mozart-sized orchestra (which is about 1/2 the size of the common romantic orchestra). That said, Richard Goode's playing -- while more rhythmically sensible than usual, lacks energy and direction. I can't help but wonder if this is due to the unbalanced engineering, though, since at times, if I really strain to hear him over the orchestra, his interpretation sounds refined and tasteful. The cadenzas are not remarkable -- they sound like every other recording made in recent years. All in all, I would expect more from Nonesuch.

Another might-have-been
Alas, the second reviewer is right. You can't hear the piano. I will add this recording to my growing list of recordings of No. 17 which have one or another fatal flaw: inaudible piano, bad pianist, bad orchestra, etc. It seems that Concerto 17, along with Concerto 9, is for some reason very hard to record properly (and of course very hard to play well). Even Piotr Anderszewski, who plays the piece perfectly, can't be heard through speakers. Earphones only.