"A few months ago I swore to give fewer 5-star reviews -- they debase the value of stars -- but this really is great.
I have heard Pollini live eight or nine times, and he was twice uninspired, mostly good, and twice astounding: anywhere from cerebral to historic. A couple of his recordings I wish I didn't own, but the rest are well worth it. This one's near the top.
If you have his K459/K488 recording, now 30 years old, the parallels and contrasts are both notable. There was more testosterone then -- particularly in K459, which is a strange thing to say about any interpretation of that work -- than now, but a similar straightforward, focused playing, as if he trusts the music to speak for itself. I'm not accusing Pollini of playing the notes, but clever phrasing or obvious contrasts don't jump out from the restrained thread he makes of the whole progression of ideas, which are plentiful, stuck in everywhere by the marvelous composer of these warhorses, which are warhorses because they are so, so worth hearing.
He seems to be the best conductor of these works, also. The guy is just that good. Both andante movements are formed as units -- one theme leads to another in a manner that they collectively fill out a single shape. Beautiful stuff.
As a bonus, you can hear him grunting through much of both works, even during some tutti places -- intensity motivates the concentration required to make these movements such coherent units. I wonder at the notion that 18-century music is entirely intended as accompaniment to sipping tea with pinky outstretched at the proper angle. No: it can be as intense and spiritually-elevating as these works.
If I had a time machine, I'd hit Vienna in 1786 first. I have to know how Mozart would have played these concerti."
Maestro Maurizio Pollini plays Mozart's popular piano concer
Vera Kolb | Kenosha, WI | 01/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In this recording Maestro Pollini plays two popular piano concertos by Mozart (No. 17 in G major, K. 453, and No. 21 in C major, K. 467), and he also conducts the orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic. Maestro Pollini is well known especially for his Beethoven interpretations. In this recording of Mozart concertos he will steal your musical heart.
Maestro Pollini excels as a conductor! As you listen to this CD, the orchestral sound will wrap you in perfectly blended orchestral parts, which are gorgeous, and the piano parts, which are no less beautiful. There will be no booming sound of the orchestra at the expense of the piano, and vice versa, characteristic for the lesser performers/orchestras. The orchestral sound is so masterfully balanced with the piano that it is a real treat to listen to their combined sweet and beautiful voice. I am quite partial to these concertos' orchestral parts (the notes from the musical underground in which I exist as an obscure 2nd violinist reveal that I played both concertos). The orchestra is first rate, the pianist is first rate, and the conducting is first rate. But this is not the entire story. As I listen to Maestro Pollini, I feel that he is playing just for me. It is this ability of the great performers to bond and make personal musical relationships with their listeners which makes them so popular and sought after.
Please read the CD notes which address masterfully the historical and musical nuances of these concertos.
"Pollini follows in the footsteps of Bernstein, Barenboim, and Perahia among pianists who have tried their hand at conducting Mozart from the keyboard. All have been successful, and Pollini is, too. Granted, he probably didn't need to conduct the Vienna Phil. at all, so naturally do they take to Mozartean style, but here they are in gorgeous form, and beautifully caught by DG. On that score this CD has far better sound than Bernstein and Perahia ever got in their day, but Bernstein, also leading the Vienna Phil, produced a deeper interpretation than Pollini does. Which is not to say that anything here sounds amateurish or half-hearted.
The high spirits of the great G major concerto K. 453 are infectious, with alluring woodwind playing adding a special lift. The finale transports us into the world of the Magic Flute in its sparkling fantasy. The C major concerto K. 467 could use a more rousing, forceful opening, but that's a quibble given the superb standard of musicianship here. The muted, floating slow movement (associated for decades with the Swedish film Elvira Madigan--please forget I mentioned it) receives the most ethereal string playing imaginable.
As for Pollini the pianist, I've never been much taken with his earlier venture into Mozart -- there's only been one, from the mid-Seventies -- feeling that he was rather stiff and conventional, no surprise in Bohm's company. But time has brought a thaw. His amazing control is still in evidence, yet these melting phrases pour out more warmly and naturally than before. My only reservation with Pollini is that I don't hear a great deal of individuality. If this CD depended solely on his pianism, I wouldn't be so enthusiastic, but the orchestra and recording really are special."
Pollini's much longed-for Mozart Concerti after three decade
A. F. S. Mui | HK | 02/08/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Grammphone review of this album was truly laughable - the author praised Pollini's pianism but queried his ability to conduct.
Why should a top classical magazine employ such ill-informed reviewer is some thing that we readers could only guess at.
Well, Pollini has been around this classical music 'business' for much longer than most reviewer could remember. And he had ventured into conducting much earlier than most could remember. In short, his 'conducting' from the keyboard in this recording is nothing new to his role as a 'conductor'.
Both the VPO and Pollini gave an ultra-finely polished performance here - so fine that I could not describe in verbal terms, except to say that to most 'secular' ears, am afraid that such utter-finesse would end up being slashed at as being 'cold', 'mechanical'...
The first complete Mozart concerti album that I owned is Geza Anda conducting the Camerata Salzburg in the 1960's and 1970's. That box set is still available.
I would only say that Pollini's approach to the pieces in this recording hearkens back to the era of Anda and Clara Haskil, even if his earlier release with Karl Boehm did not. There is a clear sense of 'other-worldliness' in his approach to these concerti by Mozart.
I would wish Pollini continue with this Mozart sprint, but judging from DG's haphazard approach to their artists' recordings, I truly wonder if such would ever materialise.
Perhaps Pollini should enter into the freelance sector now, after spending decades with DG.
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1