Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Susan Tomes, The Gaudier Ensemble :: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 11; Piano Concerto No. 12; Piano Concerto No. 13

Chamber Ensemble Arrangements of 3 Mozart Piano Concertos

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 10/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Mozart had located in Vienna after breaking from the Archbishop of Salzburg, he was trying to establish himself as both composer and performer. In aid of that he wrote these three piano concertos. Before they had received public performances with full orchestras he arranged and published them for piano and string quartet primarily for performances in private residences. These are the arrangements presented here. The instrumentation he used was string quartet, substituting for the full orchestra with winds, and in these performances here the quartet is supplemented by a double bass mostly doubling the cello line. The string instruments are played by members of the Gaudier Ensemble, an ad hoc chamber ensemble much heard in London. The pianist is the redoubtable Susan Tomes, a very fine pianist who has recorded a great deal, mostly in chamber music releases. She is a fine Mozartean and she is given excellent and sensitive support by her colleagues.



One might ask why one would want to hear these arrangements, and that's a very good question. I suspect there is little reason to do so except for those who love these concertos and want to hear them in any guise available. And for those who want to hear how Mozart re-arranged his orchestration for string quartet (or quintet, in this case). So, even though these are lovely performances, they should not be a first choice for these three works, the first of Mozart's mature piano concerti.



That said, I have enjoyed them immensely. There are times - late at night, for instance - when I prefer the added intimacy of these chamber arrangements.



Scott Morrison"