Excellent Mozart from Dino Ciani, who died tragically young
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/21/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It would be a shame to pass up these warm and affectionate Mozart concertos performed by Dino Ciani. A gifted pupil of Alfred Cortot and a rising star who won a recording contract with DG -- no mean feat for any pianist -- ciani was killed in a car accident in Rome in 1974; he was only 32. This disc is a fitting tribute. It contains two radio performances with the RAI orchestra of Naples.
There are any number of admired performances of the big C major concrto K. 503, and ciani's can stand with the best. His Mozart is flowing and naturla, with a flexible, expressive touch and no hint of preciousness. Barbirolli adds a suitably strong accompaniment, and the sound is clean, clear stereo. We aren't in the world of period performance (Gott sei dank) but the era of Serkin and Clifford Curzon, who had similar notions that classicism can be combined with force and expression.
The D minor concrto K. 466 has never fallen out of favor, even when Mozart was denigrated as a prettified rococo prodigy, because of its pre-Beethoven drama; the first movement in particular recalls the stormy overture to Don Giovanni. Ciani's recording is in mono under Piero Bellugi under concert conditions. The sound may be a bit limited and the hall a little resonant, but ciani's playing is again very strong. He takes a heroic view of the work, in keeping with Serkin, and one wishes that he had lived long enough to make a studio recording. The Gramophone found Bellugi's conducting heavy-handed, but to my ears he's almost as strong as Ciani -- the vital finale taken at a rollicking tempo is very satisfying, not something I'd say even of some acclaimed recordings.
In all, this is an overlooked gem that will appeal to more than just the pianophiles who remember ciani's brief career."
