Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields :: Mozart: Piano Concertos 15, 21 & 23

Very decent but uneven

Leonardo | Argentina | 01/21/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For my taste concerto 450 is not quite attractive as K467 &488. I like most K449 instead but is a matter of taste. So if you want the big names of 21 & 23 look at Philips duo which includes brendel/marriner readings of 19,20,21,23, 24 and if I am not wrong 2 concert rondos.

Concerning this release all is quite right but uneven. Without question the best is K 450, because orchestral parts are more limited in scope.

Let me say this: Brendel is amazing. His techique would be summarized as follows: quite little pedalling, so there is a sound not too different from period fortepianos, but with greater dinamic range (characteristic of modern piano). He also shows a huge variety of touch with carefull control of dinamics. In short, a delight. He is known as an intellectual, scholar artist and this is reflected here. See that K488 was recorded in 1971 and the rest 10 years later and the pianist style has not change: a tribute to coherence. He also adds some notes, something quite correct in this type of music but I find it too conservative. They say Levin/Hogwood go in this direction (I do not know their releases yet); I hope for readings so embellished as is Vivaldi nowadays played, for instance.

But Marriner ... Perhaps is a fault of sound engineer! In the surface orchestral parts are played quite right, very "alive" but still without the clarity of HIP recordings which were to appear years later. But with repeated listenings I find a great fault: it happens that the balance is not good at all. I love Mozart concertos because, among other things, wind writing (esp woodwind) is quite developped (better than the rest of the composers of piano concertos, perhaps). The woodwind and brass should be played as if the instrumentalists were soloists or chamber players, not just members of a huge block of sound: the modern orchestra. Here woodwinds sound too far behind, with little projection and sometimes not audible (development of 21 1st mov: oboe vs strings). If you dont understand what I am talking about try Barenboim/ECO: there you know what is playing each one of the woodwinds everytime, even in orchestral tuttis. And the bright colours Barenboim achieves of them!. I think it is a fault of Marriner: he does not understand the truly importance of woodwind in Mozart writing."