Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jeffrey Tate, English Chamber Orchestra :: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 24 & 25

Stick to Ashkenazy!

Wolfgang Jaeger | Pleasant Grove, UT USA | 10/19/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have greatly enjoyed Ms. Uchida's interpretations of Mozart's piano sonatas and was thus quite excited to see how she would handle his piano concertos. But to be honest I was extremely disappointed. I think that she goes down the same wrong path that many other pianists have in recent years, and Mr. Tate as many other conductors: they treat Mozart too lightly and shy away from any real dramatic weight. The tempi were too swift, the orchestra too small, no real emotion or passion, no drive, no fire. These two concerti are the absolute pinnacle of the genre (remember what Beethoven said of the the c minor concerto?).

I will never understand the decision of a conductor to use an orchestra so small and yet use a modern piano. The result is a miserable balance with the soloist.

Horowitz had it right when he said that in many ways Mozart was a romantic composer. To treat his music as bland and faceless and then to pass it off as a legitimate "interpretation" is unacceptable. If you want to hear a proper performance of Mozart's piano concerti buy Ashkenazy's set on Decca."