Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Matyas Antal, Concentus Hungaricus :: Mozart: Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 9

Full Potential

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 01/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Volume 9 of the Naxos Mozart Piano Concerto edition was recorded in January, 1991, and the team, consisting of soloist Jenö Jandó and the chamber orchestra Concentus Hungaricus, here directed by Mátyás Antal, had obviously by this time become so welded together that the production offers an impressive piece of cooperative harmony, apparently with no competition between the soloist and the orchestra; instead, both achieve their full potential on a recording that is remarkable for its clarity, presence and purity. The programme chosen is also very interesting, with Concerto No. 26, the one usually known as the ?Coronation? concerto, offering some real fireworks. As Mozart did not actually complete writing out the solo part, I can only assume that Jenö Jandó here plays the version by André; this is something that Keith Anderson?s otherwise acceptable notes fail to mention. Concerto No. 5 is the first that Mozart actually composed from original ideas and is mainly remarkable for its being a complete piano concerto ?from scratch?, so to speak, without Mozart apparently having any period of trial and error to get there. Finally, the Rondo KV. 382, a replacement last movement for Concerto No. 5, is one of the all-time great hits of Mozart, being a set of variations full of humour, playfulness and fantasy. I was able to compare this version with the competition from BMG?s budget label Arte Nova (played by Matthias Kirschnereit and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra); although the Arte Nova has a slight edge on the recorded sound (both discs are very good), I felt that Jandó and Antal captured the spirit of the Rondo a little better, with some energetic, jaunty playing that really lets you understand why Mozart was so popular, not only as a composer, but as a performer of his own works."