Search - Pletnev, Mozart :: Mikhail Pletnev Plays Mozart Concertos

Full-blooded Mozart

Michael Whincop | GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD AUSTRALIA | 03/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have found many modern performances of Mozart disappointing -- undercharacterised, lacking in drama, and precious. Pletnev's disk is an excellent antidote to these bland offerings. Pletnev is dramatic and tragic as the need requires, but neither does he purport to shadow the sunnier parts of these works. KV 271 is one of my very favourite Mozart concertos, and I have long looked for a recording as good as this. The first movement is ideally paced; the second brings out the overtones of a tragic operatic aria from an Opera Seria; and the third is wonderfully alive but appropriately reflective in its middle section. Although he plays the Mozart cadenzas, Pletnev adds a range of touches of his own -- something I appreciate if as well done as this. KV 460 is rather more contested territory, but this performance is worthy of being heard with other great performances. Pletnev chooses tempi that are on the broad side in each of the movements, lending the work a touch of Beethoven severity (reinforced by the choice of Beethoven's dramatic cadenzas). In all an excellent performance. The orchestra is very good, and the recording is very well engineered."