Search - Mozart, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Paul Badura-Skoda (piano) :: Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 24 K 491, No. 26 K 537 "Coronation"

Mozart Concertos by a Renowned Scholar-Pianist

Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 02/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over a long career, Paul Badura-Skoda (b. 1927) has been a performer and a prolific recording artist. A year or so ago, I was privileged to hear Badura-Skoda, well into his 80s, perform Beethoven's virtuosic "Waldstein" piano sonata at a concert at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Badura-Skoda has also excelled as a musical scholar and editor which, with his performing career, makes a rare combination indeed. Both the performer and the scholar are amply on display in this recording of two Mozart piano concertos, concerto no. 24 ine c minor, K. 491, and the "Coronation" concerto, concerto no. 26 in C major, K. 537. Badura-Skoda is the soloist, conducts the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and prepared a new performing edition of the C Major concerto, as discussed below. In addition, Badura-Skoda wrote the liner notes for this CD. The recording dates from 1970, but it was only released on the Transart label in 2004.



These are beautifully informed interpretations of the concertos. Badura-Skoda performs on a modern grand but in a period-informed style with a detached, light touch. The Prague Chamber Orchestra plays translucently, especially in the winds which are essential voices in the Mozart concertos. Tempos are quick but relaxed. The collaboration between the soloist and the ensemble is a joy. Listeners who are familar with these frequently-recorded works will find something fresh in these readings.



Completed in 1786, Mozart's c minor concerto is a work of tragic intensity. Most performances emphasize the angular character of the two outer movements. Badura-Skoda's reading captures the passionate nature of the work; but under his hands, the opening movement also has a graceful, lyrical flow. Considerable weight is given to the subsidiary themes of the opening movement, which gives the work a broad, singing cast for all its solemnity. The beutifully serene second movement, marked larghetto, is taken at a flowing, singing pace. Unusual for a slow movement, the middle movement is cast as a rondo with intricate interplay between the soloist and the wind ensemble. The movement ends with an irresistably simple duet for piano and bassoon based on the singing rondo theme. The dark-hued finale returns unremittingly to c minor in a variation movement full of passionate outbursts for the soloist. The performance of this concerto, then, is passionate and tragic but with substantial variation in mood and in character.



Completed in 1788, the Coronation Concerto was the next-to-last of Mozart's series of 27 piano concertos. Mozart apparently wrote this work to play on tour, and he performed it in 1790 for the coronation of emperor Leopold II. This work, the second longest of Mozart's concertos, is less highly-regarded than its companions. The solo part predominates throughout with little of the orchestral interplay that characterizes the c minor concerto and the other works in the series. Probably more importantly, Mozart left the soloist part of the work less than fully scored. The second movement includes only the melodic line for the piano while there are also smaller gaps in the solo part in the outer movement. Mozart doubtless improvised a great deal during performance, but left the written version incomplete. Most performances of the "Coronation" concerto use an edition dating from 1794 in which the missing piano accompaniment was filled in by one John Andre. In this version, Badura-Skoda himself edits the missing lines of the piano part in a manner which, he argues, makes more musical sense and is more consistent with Mozart's style. Thus, his reading here will be new, even to those listeners who know the concerto well. The work itself features bravura piano writing in the martial opening movement, a song-like second movement, with Badura-Skoda performing his edited version of the piano part and a humorous light finale. If not among the greatest of Mozart's concertos, the Coronation remains delightful and readily accessible music.



Lovers of Mozart's piano concertos will enjoy these readings by Paul Badura-Skoda."

Relevant musical document!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 10/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"During his brilliant career, this exceptional artist has devoted years of ceaseless study and worthy to remark about Mozart. His lucid essays and smart reflections about this issue has provided of an additional device to enhance still more his colossal attributes around the beloved son of Salzburg.



The final artistic outcome simply must be qualified as sublime. Accompanied by the Prague Chamber Orchestra (it's immediately evident the mutual rapport between soloist-director and ensemble) both records are hovered by this well distinguished refinement and artistic solvency, radiant lyricism and deliriously poetry.



Badura-Skoda is one of these few integral artists who possesses as much science as art; commitment and honesty, blending in accurate rate introspection, expression; temperament and character, as well as that resplendent sound that nothing has to do with frantic mannerisms or cheap poses, so typical in those times in which many talented and gifted pianists seem to have developed in order to create a sort of provincial exhibitionism, sacrificing the essential mission of artist to become part of the refulgent stardom of a temporal fame.



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