Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto Koln, Andreas Staier :: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 18 & 19 (K456, K459) /Staier * Concerto Koln

Perfect

01/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an absolutely phenomenal new recording of two Mozart piano concertos, two of my faves, 18 and 19, by Andreas Staier, who was Goebel's keyboard player in the mid 80s, and sounds it. He's playing a magnificent reproduction of a Walter piano, the same that Mozart would have played. He plays with the period band Concerto Koln, some of whose members played with MAK over the years. The recording is peerless: dynamic, transparent, detailed; the interpretation simply beyond praise. Pointed, subtle, every phrase beautifully considered, perfect ensemble and intonation, gorgous timbres, intensely virtuosic throughout (the tempo for the F-major concerto finale is blistering, fastest I've ever heard, and works beautifully, not forced at all; Staier has been a major talent for years, but this proves it beyond any doubt whatsoever) I've heard a lot of good Mozart piano playing in the last 10 years especially...I didn't think it could actually be done BETTER by this point...but it can, and is, by these guys. Freaking incredible. You have to hear it sometime. To my ears, based on my readings, this may be as close as anyone has come yet to what it all sounded like to Mozart himself, only better, since he didn't usually have the kind of preparation time these guys must have had. Just fantastic. Let's hope we get all the concertos from these guys. It'll be hard for anybody to match, let alone exceed, this kind of work."