BaL 24.12.16/10.12.22 - Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 21 in C, K467

[MickyD]

I have two sets, Immerseel which is a little soft-focus maybe, and Bilson+Gardiner which is quite the opposite. I'm not sure which I prefer. I certainly prefer both to anything involving "modern" pianos.

It's such a shame that the Levin/AAM/Hogwood cycle was never completed. I am very fond of the Bilson/Gardiner set, but would buy a boxed set of the Brautigam cycle. I like what Bezuidenhout does, but I find his piano too tinkly and the strings of the Freiburgers rather wiry for my taste.

[BBMmk2]

Shall I give WAM another go?

[rauschwerk]

Agree entirely he often gives an illuminating talk and the chooses a bizarre winner.

Really? In Beethoven's last piano sonata he recommended Brautigam, whose version is hardly bizarre. In fact I remember him saying that you can't know how this music should really go until you have played it on an instrument like Beethoven's.

His recommendation of Harasiewicz for the Chopin Mazurkas was a revelation to me and that recording has given me much enjoyment.

[BBMmk2]

I'm a great fan of Murray Perahia but cannot see his recording he made with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, in 1991?

[Thropplenoggin]

Really? In Beethoven's last piano sonata he recommended Brautigam, whose version is hardly bizarre. In fact I remember him saying that you can't know how this music should really go until you have played it on an instrument like Beethoven's.

His recommendation of Harasiewicz for the Chopin Mazurkas was a revelation to me and that recording has given me much enjoyment.

[mikealdren]

Geza Anda was all the rage when I was a student due to the Elvira Madigan connection. I'm spoilt for choice with Annie Fischer, Pires, Kempff, Cassadesus and Perahia but I'll certainly listen. Kempff is probably my favourite, his touch in Mozart seems perfect to me.

Just noticed I have Gilels and Kovacevich on LP too, what an embarrassment of riches. Listening to Kempff again, maybe it's a bit heavy by modern standards, especially orchestrally.

[Nick Armstrong]

I would always want... Pires.

Yes the Pires/Abbado is the other recording I return to regularly.

I listened again earlier this morning to Robert Philip's 2011 BAL on PC no. 17 in G K.453 - it was the Pires/Abbado he selected for 'the library' and it reminded me that it was on the strength of the programme that I acquired that recording. Real delight, as in K.467 which is one of the two other concertos on the disc.

[vinteuil]

Looks like a couple of my favourites, Demus and Immerseel, have fallen out of current availability.

... I don't know the Demus - would that be with Coll: Aureum?

I like the Immerseel. It may still be available (at a price) if you want all the piano concertos; I was lucky enough to get it when it came out as a mid-price box. Still, for ten CDs this is perhaps not too extravagant -

http://amzn.eu/fcYmukr

[MickyD]

I remember about 2 DHM LPs with Demus and Collegium Aureum. To my ears the sound was a little strange, with a rather beefy orchestra and Demus' fortepiano not matching very well. A bit like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. But undoubtedly it was a landmark recording.

[Pulcinella]

I had the Anda LP set (nice sturdy red box) as a student, too, but chose the Perahia set on CD when I migrated to that medium. Supplemented though with a 2CD set of Anda (20, 21, 26, 27). Actually it's the Anda I play more frequently, if only because it is easier to get at!

[Bryn]

I remember about 2 DHM LPs with Demus and Collegium Aureum. To my ears the sound was a little strange, with a rather beefy orchestra and Demus' fortepiano not matching very well. A bit like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. But undoubtedly it was a landmark recording.

The Demus was one of the first recordings I got involving a fortepiano. Yes, by today's standards CA were not that HI in their PP.

[Petrushka]

Has anyone actually seen Elvira Madigan?

Brendel for me in anything MozartIan for the piano.

[Richard Tarleton]

Has anyone actually seen Elvira Madigan?

Yes - I thought it pretty dire. I was thoroughly out of sympathy with the doomed pair, a hopelessly drippy couple.

I have Anda, Gulda, Ashkenazy.....I've heard Ashkenazy play the odd live Mozart concerto over the years, I like him. Agreed re Brendel....

[umslopogaas]

I saw Elvira Madigan when I was a student, a few years after it was released. I recall it was a nineteenth romantic tragedy set somewhere in Scandinavia. All pastel shades and a lot of soft focus. At the time I was impressed, but I fear now I would find it very sentimental. The Radio Times Film Guide gives it three stars out of a maximum of five which means it is "worth watching", better than "could be worse" but not as good as "very good." Mozart's music did suit the film very well, I thought.

[Sir Velo]

Expect DON to dwell on the detail at the expense of the overview.

I always find a little of DON goes a long way. Top choice will be whichever performer picks up on all those picky little details which fascinate him.