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Mozart: Violin Concertos
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Camerata Salzburg
Mozart: Violin Concertos
Genre: Classical
 
Mozart's music is all things to all people. In this live 2-CD recording, Leonidas Kavakos, famous for his spectacular virtuosity and ravishing tone, adopts a pseudo-period approach. Referring to Mozart's "divine transparen...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Camerata Salzburg
Title: Mozart: Violin Concertos
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony Classics
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 10/31/2006
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Concertos, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Instruments, Strings, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 828768424124

Synopsis

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Mozart's music is all things to all people. In this live 2-CD recording, Leonidas Kavakos, famous for his spectacular virtuosity and ravishing tone, adopts a pseudo-period approach. Referring to Mozart's "divine transparency" in his introduction, he plays with impeccable clarity and, using vibrato sparingly, a lean, focused, pristinely pure tone. The excellent orchestra, too, sounds remarkably transparent, especially on the first CD, but produces a full, "modern" sonority quite different from the soloist's, resulting in an uneasy stylistic hybrid. On the second CD, the balance favors the winds, and the solo is often overpowered. Kavakos states that his interpretation seeks to reveal the emotions hidden in the notes and harmonies, "from the sounds of war to the voices of angels." The performance, however, is strangely tame and pallid. In keeping with the style, notes start tentatively, without edge or definition and swell in the middle, robbing even the fast movements of sparkle, wit and sprightliness; the slow ones are sedate rather than serene. Throughout, long rests and pauses impede the flow; over-phrasing and fussy dynamics abound, including a fade-out on every phrase, no matter how vigorous. Mozart wrote these concertos in his teens; surely there is more youthful exuberance, mischievous humor and spice in them. The performance gives the impression that classical restraint and meticulous perfection have turned into caution and inhibition, and that all spontaneity has been lost. Kavakos reserves his boundless virtuosity and natural, gorgeous tone for his own brilliant cadenzas; tailored to his strengths, they are sometimes discursive, but skillfully use Mozart's thematic material. As a conductor, Kavakos is less persuasive: in the Symphony, the strings sound muddy, the winds are too loud, the timpani crash and boom. This recording, though not entirely convincing, is an interesting addition to the Mozart discography. --Edith Eisler
 

CD Reviews

One of the best new performances of Mozart's Violin Concerto
Amadeus 888 | London | 06/01/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very elegant and graceful performance of Mozart's Violin Concertos. I love the tone of Kavakos' violin, the exquisite tenderness of it and the range of emotions that this virtuoso can convey. Mozart is standard repertoire for the Camerata Salzburg and of course they are excellent throughout. Kavakos, being the artistic director of the Camerata, also conducts the orchestra and he does a fine job, indeed. If there is one word to describe the approach that the conductor takes and the overall feeling that these performances exhude, then that would be "calm poise."



The Symphony no. 39 bonus is also a wonderful addition to this set.



Highly recommended."
Mozart very well played
Osvaldo Colarusso | Curitiba, Paraná Brazil | 09/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kavakos is one of my favorite violinists. The recording he did of the two versions of Sibelius Concerto is one of the records I would have in a desert island , and the Second of Bartok he played with Rattle is one wonderful version. His approach of Mozart is a surprise, as I though he was one specialist in romantic music. He plays with elegance, with energy , and he is perfect once more technically . I am sure that what is written in the editorial was written about other version. Call this stupendous version of " pallid" is one aberration ."