Mozart Piano Concertos ?

Clara Haskil though she didn't record that many.

Any other suggestions ?

Definitely try the old Uchida recordings, she delighted one half of the world with them and irritated the other. Very feminine playing, almost perfumed, and a habit to slightly exaggerate turns of phrases and details. Her immediacy and alertness to the mood is often overlooked. She is working on a new cycle (?) with the Cleveland, which is completely different in approach: powerful, romantic and also, sadly, more conventional than her earlier readings with Tate and the ECO.

Beyond her, I wouldn't recommend complete sets. Brendel made some exceptional recordings with the late Charles Mackerras, these are worth searching for. I haven't heard his earlier recordings, or Barenboim's. Ashkenazy is inconsistent, some really good performances offset by some more routine stuff. I have a couple of individual recordings and love them. I also second Aleg's rec of Haskil's (vintage) recordings.

And some excellent single discs: Gulda / Abbado recorded four concertos together (avoid the lackluster Serkin / Abbado). Angela Hewitt's first couple of discs have been hugely promising for her announced full cycle. David Fray / Jaap van Zweden recorded a single brilliant disc. Pires' latest recording with Abbado is good, too, but maybe not exceptional. 

I'm currently evaluating one of our compatriots, Ronald Brautigam, who is recording a cycle on fortepiano for Bis. 

Cheers,

EJ

+1 for Friedrich Gulda with Abbado and Vienna Symphonic Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon).

Bert, if you don't mind older recordings,

you could be in for a treat.

The first 6 CDs of this 17 x CD box set are very enjoyable Mozart piano concertos with the fabulous Clara Haskil.

I've listed below [a cut and paste off Amazon] the contents of the first 6 CDs only:

CD 1

W. A. Mozart
[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 9 in E-flat major, K271
Vienna Symphony / Paul Sacher

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K466
[7] Concert Rondo in A major, K386
Vienna Symphony / Bernhard Paumgartner

CD 2

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K466
[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor, K491
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux / Igor Markevitch

CD 3

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 19 in F major, K459
Berlin Philharmonic / Ferenc Fricsay

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K488
Vienna Symphony / Paul Sacher

CD 4

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K466
RIAS Symphony Orchestra / Ferenc Fricsay

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 27 in B-flat major, K595
Bavarian State Orchestra / Ferenc Fricsay

CD 5

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 13 in C major, K415
Lucerne Festival Strings / Rudolf Baumgartner

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K466
Winterthur Symphony Orchestra / Henry Swoboda

Manuel de Falla
[7]-[9] Noches en los jardines de España
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux / Igor Markevitch

CD 6

Mozart
[1]-[3] Piano Concerto no. 19 in F major, K459

Ludwig van Beethoven
[4]-[6] Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, op. 37
Winterthur Symphony Orchestra / Henry Swoboda

~<>~

My favourite is no. 20 in D minor with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and the marvelous Ferenc Fricsay conducting.

The rest of the box set set is very interesting too! : )

Debs

+1 for Gulda. He's got a witty sense of attitude that I find refreshing.

I love the set with Harnoncourt.

I am also fond of Fazil Say's fun spontaneous NO.21.

It is hard to pick a single pianist for all.

 Originally Posted by naim_nymph:

My favourite is no. 20 in D minor with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and the marvelous Ferenc Fricsay conducting.

Deb,

They did not add the No.20 with Klemperer in that set! ( probably due to its bootleg grade fidelity ) :/

Oddly this is the only No.20 Klemerper ever recorded. Haskil seems more energetic and livelier the one with Fricsay. Fidelity wise, this set can't compete with her later studio recording with Markevich. ( best sounding Haskil Mozart Concerto recording I have heard to date ) Interesting that she's exposing tune's rhythmic structure as Klemepere does. They seem to be on the same wavelength musically.

 

 Originally Posted by naim_nymph:

My favourite is no. 20 in D minor with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and the marvelous Ferenc Fricsay conducting.

 

 

Deb,

 

They did not add the No.20 with Klemperer in that set! ( probably due to its bootleg grade fidelity ) :/

Oddly this is the only No.20 Klemerper ever recorded. Haskil seems more energetic and livelier the one with Fricsay. Fidelity wise, this set can't compete with her later studio recording with Markevich. ( best sounding Haskil Mozart Concerto recording I have heard to date ) Interesting that she's exposing tune's rhythmic structure as Klemepere does. They seem to be on the same wavelength musically.

Haskil, it seems, was never really happy with the Philips (Decca set) contract and recordings.

I agree that recordings made while working for other record labels do sound better, more interesting.

i do like this cd of her mozart concerti

Hi Debs,

Thanks for the extended information. I am ok with old recordings - are they mono or stereo ?

Cheers,

Bert

CD1 Mono

CD2 Stereo

CD3 Stereo/Mono

CD4 Stereo

CD5 Stereo/Mono

CD6 Mono

No major arguments with what's been said, but just to add Howard Shelley's name to the list. |I've got as lot of enjoyment out of his cycle with the London Mozart Players. Very natural and unmannered performances, and straightforward transparent Chandos sound - just like Mozart should be.

I don't think they're available in a boxed set though.

Mark

This 4 x LP box set is entertaining : )

Recordings from the 1960s include a hint of old fashioned orchestrial style funkiness, very nice though.

Geza does a splendid job too imho.

Debs

In spite their *slept in* look, this album is growing on me.

Usually I find British conductors rather too polite, but Marriner is great on Mozart.

+1 for Brendel and, if you want something from an earlier era, Clifford Curzon is a great pianist with some excellent Decca recordings from their vintage era.

For those with access to the BBC Radio 4 archive (available outside the UK too) there is a very good Desert Island Discs programme featuring Brendel (and a much earlier one featuring Curzon).

bd,

Which Curzon Mozart Concerto do you recommend?

+1 for Anda, there is a CD boxset with Concertos 1-27.

I'll check which I have; alas, Curzon was a perfectionist and did not allow Decca to release all of his recordings.

Alfred Brendel.

The more you (I) hear him, the more I realize the purity of his Austrian style.

Brilliant released a box of 35 CDs that sold for less than €30, and it's one of the best buys of my life.

Style is overrated, but Brendel is frequently - well, perfect. You can have the touch, the phrasing, the structure and not too much interpretation, which, for me, is as close to enjoying music as I can get.

Best

Max

I have only two, 466 and 595, with Benjamin Britten. Nice, authoritative, a little melancholic and stereotypically Mozartian perhaps. Meaning introvert and rounded off.

you would probably enjoy the radio show I mentioned above.  It's called `Desert Island Discs' and is available from the BBC Radio 4 archive. Very enjoyable programme and it's educational and interesting to listen to Brendel.  Great choice of discs too.

Hi Debs,

Just bought the suggested edition. I am looking forward to the listening experience.

Cheers,

Bert

Dear Beert,

You are in for a treat!

The only other pianist to be as charismatic in Mozart was Edwin Fischer. Both bring a human depth and yet as befits the performance, there is very little that is similar.

For a subtle and truly effective modern take consider also the recordings of Carmen Piazzini. This set is ultra-budget in price, and yet manages a complete survey of the Concerti and Piano Sonatas that is in my opinion the best complete survey in existence.

ATB from George

I just again had a listen to Clara Haskil, this is really something special.

Hello Bert,

Hope you are enjoying the Clara Haskil boxset!

It’s never far away from my CD player and I ofter dip into it.

As well as the many splendid versions of Mozart’s piano concertos on the first 5 CDs there is much more to enjoy in the box.

The enclosed booklet is interesting, a great pity about how she died in 1960 which doesn't say much about it but I found this on the internet;

"Haskil traveled to Brussels with her sister, Lili, in December 1960 to begin a concert tour with the Belgian violinist Arthur Grumiaux, arriving a few days after a triumphant concert with him in Paris. She lost her grip and tumbled down a steep concrete stairway at the railway station. Rushed to the Clinique Longchamps, Clara was unconscious. Doctors fought to save her life; she came around briefly and spoke to Lili and her younger sister, Jeanne, who had been quickly summoned from Paris. She asked them to tell Grumiaux how sorry she was not to be able to play with him the next day. Holding up her hands weakly, she whispered with smile, “At least I didn’t damage these.” In the early hours of December 7, 1960, exactly one month before her 66th birthday, Clara Haskil died."

It’s very horrible to think how tragedy can suddenly strike without warning, and not to mention depriving us of what would have been many more splendid recordings throughout the 60s.

Anyway, i hope they fixed that stairway! : (

Debs

This is the famous recording of Edwin Fischer in the D Minor Concerto, KV 466, for HMV in Abbey Road, where the totally unprepared London Philharmonic Orchestra respond like angels to the magus, Fischer.

The recording is not very well represented on this transfer, but it is clear enough.

ARP records have a superb transfer out.

Haskill is equally glorious with Fricsay and the Berlin Radio Orchestra in 1954, except for the errant timpanist!

That was RIAS Berlin [Radio in the Free Sector] recording of a live studio performance. The Haskill recording with Markevittch [Philips, 1960 in stereo] is rather dull compared with either, but these two do present the best of the old world idea of Mozart in this concerto that did not quite disappear from the repertoire from its premiere.

Like Don Giobvnni it clung to the concert hall right through the romantic era, and yet neither Haskill or Fischer give a wildly romantic performance.

Fischer recorded several Mozart Piano Concertos and Sonatas, and as with Haskill, they still are worthy of attention.

ATB from George

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chhPa2LniBE