Search - Mozart, Vpo, Bernstein :: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 15 / Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Bernstein's Best Mozart

01/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was LB's first recording with the VPO, in 1966, shortly after his State Opera debut in "Falstaff", marking the beginning of their celebrated collaboration which continued until his death. LB didn't record a whole lot of Mozart, and this is the best of the crop. This was the golden age of Decca's recordings of the VPO at the Sofiensaal (which sadly burned down a few months ago), and the recording is exemplary. So too is LB's performances, which are transparent and fluid, yet taut and muscular. Concerto No. 15 is very fine, one of LB's few recorded outings as a concerto soloist, and the "Linz" is amongst the best ever, on a par with the classic Bruno Walter on Columbia. A must for Mozart and Bernstein fans alike."

Early Mozart CD From Bernstein And The Vienna Philharmonic

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 12/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Decca should be strongly commended for reissuing a recording which deserves recognition for being a classic. Bernstein shows why he was one of our foremost interpreters of Mozart in this early collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic, while he was still music director of the New York Philharmonic. These are vivid, warm interpretations of both the symphony and the concerto, which are as refined as any I have heard from Karl Bohm and Sir Colin Davis, among others. The Mozart piano concerto is an unexpectedly wonderful surprise, showing how graceful Bernstein was as a pianist, yielding an understated interpretation that is in its own right as elegant as any I've heard from Brendel or Bilson. Thanks to Decca's latest state-of-the-art digital remastering, the sound quality is quite superb."