Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Eduard Melkus, Ton Koopman :: Mozart: Piano Concertos

That most reliable of composers (from a marketing standpoint

John Grabowski | USA | 02/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday dear Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart.* And at 250 years old, you're still holding up well. Record companies continue to reissue your stuff in copious amounts. Let's see if the Rolling Stones last as long.



This set is another reissue of a boxed set that first came out more than 12 years ago, culled from LPs that came out nearly thirty years ago. The bulk of it is Alfie Brendel with Sir Neville and those guys in the fields, performing with the usual grace and aplomb the bulk of the Mozart concertos. All except No. 25 are in the studio--25 is live with a few audience coughs here and there but nothing seriously distracting. What stands out the most in these performances ends up being both their strength and their weakness: the consistency. Marriner and Brendel give you what you'd expect from them--polished classicism, Waterford crystal, impeccably-clean playing. They find different moods in the various concertos, but at the same time, they never surprise, never swing for the fences, never take chances. This is an excellent "overview" set of the concertos, a nicely-played complete set in good sound to have on your shelf, a survey. But you'll want to explore other artists and other recordings for more definitive performances: a stunning C minor concerto (my favorite piano concerto by anyone!) by Clara Haskel and Igor Markevitch, a delicious No. 23 by Haskel with Paul Sacher, a spiritual and shimmery No. 17 with Maria Joao Pires and Claudio Abbado, a rough-and-tumble No. 20 with Martha Argerich and Alexander Rabinovitch, a haunting, sad No. 27 with Haskel and Fricsay. (Note the absense of Perahia/English Chamber Orchestra recordings in my recommendations.) Some highlights in this set include a very elegant No. 21 that is surpassed in my collection only by Rosina Lhevinne, and a terrific, fresh-as-spring Jeunehomme concerto that I've still never heard bested. The warmth of Brendel and Marriner also may help with the Concerto No. 25, which I usually find hard to listen to because is strikes me as a cold and hollow work. Some real letdowns are a tepid No. 24 (but great No. 24s are hard to come by) and rather characterless Nos. 17 and 20.



That leaves the non-Brendel works in the set. Most of these are early Mozart works--some are his transcripts of works by J.C. Bach and are thus not "original" Mozart concertos. These are given periodist performances by Ton Koopman, Ingrid Haebler, and others. They are a bit at odds, stylistically, with the modern Brendel performances, and they were clearly originally part of another series for Philips, one with a different musical aesthetic, and they were attached to this project to make the box complete. The different approach doesn't bother me, but it has caused comment from some people. There are also several concerti he wrote for two and three pianos, including one, the "Lodron," performed by Katia and Marielle Labeque and conducted by Marielle's hubby Seymon Bychkov. It's okay, but the Lodron isn't exactly my cup of tea.



Incidentally, this is the exact same set as one issued by Philips in a large "brick box" (the kind with plastic CD cases) that features a large black piano on the cover, called The Complete Mozart Edition. The liner notes are different (and better in the "brick" box, with an interesting essay on Mozart playing by Brendel himself) but the mastering of the CDs sounds exactly the same. The current issue is a slimline box with paper sleeves. It soaks up about an inch and a half on your shelf, vs. the four or five inches of the previous issue, so if space is important to you, get this incarnation.



In short, this is not definitive, but it is complete, and if you want to hear Mozart's evolution as a composer of piano concertos, it's hard to go wrong here. Another box set that's not quite complete but which contains all the "major" concertos is by Christian Zacharias on EMI--it's cheap and very good and should stand on your shelf next to this one.



*Yes, Amadeus was actually not part of his baptismal name. Go figure.



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Another Great CME box set by Philips

Mete Ibanoglu | Ankara, Turkey | 03/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I have decided that I would collect all of the box sets produced by Philips under the name Complete Mozart Edition, Vol.4 Piano Concertos was number one on my list. I ended up getting Vol. 15 : Late Italian Operas and Vol. 12: Arias, Canons, Lieder first with the Compactotheque. Days after ordering those I could not resist the temptation to buy this one as well so ordered Vol. 4: Piano Concertos as well.



Now before writing my opinions about this box set (top notch :) ) I wish to tell everyone how I review box sets. I think when you buy a box set you are buying the box set because of the complete works or as in my case, to complete a greater collection (CME). The problem with these sets is that you cannot get the definitive version on each composition interpreted. To expect that would be unrealistic. Well, perhaps not so unrealistic, taking Maestro Karajan's 1962 Beethoven Cycle, but that kind of recordings come along very rarely. You cannot expect to see Luciano Pavarotti or Placido Domingo on each tenor arias on Vol. 12 or Bryn Terfel and other great baritones on each baritone arias. If you'd like to get it that way, you have to give a lot of time and money.



My personal opinion on this product is that it is a great collection to own. It is complete, it features Alfred Brendel and Sir Neville Marriner (who is one of the most respected Mozartians) on the majority of tracks and their take on these compositions are terrific, though not definitive. I consider this a great addition to my music library and think that everyone will come to think of it this way once they listen to the recording.



As a final note, I know that $96 sounds like a lot at first (It did to a lot of my friends who cannot even justify to spend $10 on a music CD) but there are 12 CDs inside and you get to listen Alfred Brendel and Neville Marriner. On top of that this is a Philips production and rest assured this is one of the greatest three classical labels, along with Decca (who specializes on opera) and Deutsche Grammophon.



Get it, you won't be dissappointed at all."

Wonderful, Wonderful

King Lemuel | Puyallup, WA | 04/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pianists like Brendel, Barenboim, Gould, etc greatly benefited from the tremendous improvements in analog recording technology that occurred in the late 1950s. We are blessed to have many fine recordings of Brendel when he was in his prime.



The last 10 cds of this box set are performed by Brendel. The first cd is performed by the renowned Ingred Haebler. CD 1 is the worst sounding of the lot and sounds like mid 1950s analog. Ingred is apparently playing a period piece pianoforte instead of a modern piano. She covers concertos 1 to 4. The piano sounds a bit too much like a harpsichord for my taste, especially the right hand which seems to have a lot of tinkle in the sound. This disk is interesting to listen to if only to get acquainted with the early pianoforte.



Disk two has a Bach harpsichord sonata that Mozart orchestrated. This disk is great if only to let me know that Ingred WAS NOT playing a harpsichord! The harpsichord is front row center on disk two. If you just listened to the first two cds and closed your eyes and drifted off a little you might awaken thinking I Musici had taken over your stereo and turned Mozart into Vivaldi! Fortunately this is not the case. Brendel makes more than a stand up appearance on the last 10 cds. The last 10 cds sound great and can easily hold their own with recent DDD recordings.



I greatly enjoy Brendel at the piano and Marriner and the ASMF performing Mozart. I love Brendel's touch which seems at times to dance and float over the keys.



These disks run about 12.5 hours and at 128 kps can just about fit on a single CD. I can drive Tacoma WA to Portland OR and back and never change the CD!



The advantages to acquiring this affordable box set is you will have 12.5 hours of some of the most beautiful music ever created performed by one of the greatest pianists of the last half of the 20th century along with one of THE premier orchestras that specialize in performing Mozart. (Hollywood picked the ASMF to do the music for the film Amadeus for a good reason).



Update May 25, 2008:



Rhapsody has this entire box posted as well as several single CDs. I checked at the Decca/Philips website and the tracks are listed with track times for all 12 CDs as well as the date when each concerto was recorded. I was surprised that CD1 dates from the 1970s, not 1950s! CD2 is late 1980s DDD. CDs 3 to 12 were recorded from c. 1971 to c. 1984 and are either DDD or ADD with the same performer and orchestra. It would be interesting to do a blind folded listen and see if one could guess which ones are DDD and which ones are ADD. I was thinking these were all ADD from the 1970s and I was wrong.



I have Brendel with Marriner ASMF Mozart piano concertos K450 and K467 on a digitally recorded LP that is included in the box. If you have collected Brendel Mozart Concertos CDs and LPs as singles, you may wish to check at the website to see if you already have much of this set before buying, and if so, maybe consider another artist.



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