Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Capella Istropolitana :: Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5; Adagio; Rondo

Outside 18th Century Parameters

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 06/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although I prefer, on principle, Simon Standage's period instrument recording of Mozart's Violin Concertos (with the Academy of Ancient Music on Decca), I must confess to being very positively impressed by Takako Nishizaki's modern instrument version recorded in 1987 and 1989 (the Adagio and the Rondo) at two locations in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. Ms Nishizaki, wife of Naxos label owner Klaus Heymann, is an excellent soloist and plays the two concertos with great gusto and delight, although without the sensitivity for historical accuracy that Simon Standage brings with him: Ms Nishizaki's cadenzas, for example, are obviously more in the Fritz Kreisler vein and definitely not within eighteenth-century parameters. The Capella Istropolitana accompanies suitably, and conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser chooses lively tempi that allow the pieces to develop all their original charm. The recordings do suffer from a certain sharpness caused by the echoing acoustics of the empty recording venues, but at budget-price this is still a recording which is able to provide a good deal of listening pleasure. Needless to say, the "Turkish" element in the last section of Violin Concerto No. 5 is given full rein."