Track Listing

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #274535 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Although Brendel seems to rerecord his entire repertory every leap year, he doesn't always just repeat himself. These performances show definite changes from his most recent versions (with Marriner and his Academy). The playing is tauter, more pointed, and at the same time more spontaneous-sounding--an impression furthered by the pianist's occasional additions to Mozart's score, which sound authentic. He also plays his own cadenzas, which may not be brilliant but they do have the virtue of sounding unfamiliar--as Mozart's cadenzas always did when he improvised them. One major rival for this disc comes from Philips; Uchida seems even more urbane and subtle than Brendel, and Tate's English Chamber Orchestra sounds less beefy than the Scottish ensemble here. And if you want improv, and a period instrument, don't miss Levin's brilliant recordings for Decca. But if you're interested in Brendel's latest takes on these masterpieces, you'll find this disc thoroughly rewarding. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews

a refined interpretation
This recording is all we can wait from an artist like Brendel: intellectual but emotional, not revolutionary but not old-fashionned .With the high complicity of Charles Mackerras, he tells us a sort of story, describing the dark feelings the composer used to have ( Those are his two unique piano concerti in mineur mode ) .Playing his own cadenzas , the pianist shows his way of singing these episodes , using a sublime sonority ( very well reported) ,dialoging with the orchestra, always changing of atmosphere .The art of Brendel goes from the subtility of the nuances to the balance, he instaures .The works are sublime and as dramatic as if they were instrumental operas. Later composers like Beethoven strongly admire them. This disc transmits us their humanity, sounding as Mozart should have wanted. passionate.

Brendel's latest is as good as his classic from the '70's
I think I can understand why Brendel decided to record these two concerti again. He's a cerebral pianist who appears interested in taking a fresh look at familiar works. Apparently, he was satisfied that he had given his best performances in nearly all of Mozart's piano concerti in his classic 1970's Philips recordings with Neville Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, but decided that there was room for improvement with these, the only concerti in minor keys. However, I don't really notice much difference in his performances in the latest and earlier Philips recordings. Perhaps his playing is now a bit more refined, and maybe he does play with a bit more forte than necessary, but his technique and tempi are virtually unchanged. Sir Charles Mackerras' conducting is a bit more dramatic than Sir Neville Marriner's, yet Mackerras remains a subtle, sympathetic accompanist for Brendel. And yes, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra does sound a bit "beefy" in its performance, but this might be due to state of the art recording technology. Those interested in great performances of these Mozart piano concerti should be delighted with either version with Brendel as soloist.

The finest of opera composers...................
Mozart's sense of individuality was, no doubt, a by-product of his genius and the spirit of the age, and it prompted him to favor the life of a freelance musician. In Vienna during the early 1780's, he was in great demand as a composer and performer for the middle-class public, which had become the main arbiter of taste. The pianoforte was a new keyboard instrument, louder and more percussive than either the harpsichord or clavichord it had quickly replaced. Mozart wrote his mature piano concertos during his first years in Vienna, more of less inventing the genre. Combining the ritornello practice of the Baroque concerto with the dynamism inherent in the new sonata principle, these three-movement works, in which soloist and orchestra play equal roles, are conceived on the scale of a symphony. For the grandeur of its opening movement and the daring variation-form finale, Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor K.491 is among the finest of his achievements.