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

[antongould]

Interesting comments on todays winner from 2016.

I may recall this totally incorrectly but are Rumpole and Uchida not great mates meeting regularly at the bicycle repair shop …… ?????

[visualnickmos]

How do listeners view the purpose of the BAL show? Are they truly looking to be told which recorded version is truly “The Best”?
Surely this is a hopeless task when there are dozens of potential recordings. Or is it more to have the presenters focus on a few aspects of note, play examples of works that provide that illustration, and present them for appreciation, rather than as contestants in a sporting even?

The very reason that BaL in its current format and objective, is way past its sell-by date/

[Mal]

... Turns out that I have the Uchida/Tate boxed set, though I was not much taken with the performances, from what I remember of its content.

Uchida is often elegant, opulent and subtle, but also rather introverted, and often lacking sparkle and brilliance. To my ears, the negative quaities seemed to be on display here! Perahia/ECO (not mentioned!) remains my top choice for the full set, with Brendel/Marriner/ASMF competing strongly in individual works. The period performances sounded interesting - they had the sparkle. But I still want modern instrument opulence. So Brendel and Perahia are still in my library and I'm not feeling a need to add to them for this particular work, from what I heard here.

[gurnemanz]

I suspect most of us on here have already built a library, especially one containing K467, so BaL can be irrelevant. The interest for gnarled old collectors like me will most likely be in hearing snippets of new or unfamiliar recordings and interpretative comparisons, rather than in acquiring a library version. Someone new to classical music who really is building a library may be glad of guidance as to which recording to go for among a bewildering number of available options.

[richardfinegold]

Uchida is often elegant, opulent and subtle, but also rather introverted, and often lacking sparkle and brilliance. To my ears, the negative quaities seemed to be on display here! Perahia/ECO (not mentioned!) remains my top choice for the full set, with Brendel/Marriner/ASMF competing strongly in individual works. The period performances sounded interesting - they had the sparkle. But I still want modern instrument opulence. So Brendel and Perahia are still in my library and I'm not feeling a need to add to them for this particular work, from what I heard here.

Brendel and Perahia are both worthy. I acquired them both when I purchased larger CD compilations of each artist. For years my only recording was Casadesus/Szell which I still love. I also have Uchida/Tate but find Mal to be spot on here

[smittims]

I can't help pitching in my own subjective preferences here. I was surprised to see Brendel and Perahia in the same sentence, Yes, both Mozart Pianists , but for me that's all they have in common. For me, Brendel is a supreme master, Perahia a competent pianist. Yes, he can play , but he's no Murray Perahia.

I've always liked Mitsuko's set with Tate. I recently compared it with her later recordings of ten of the concertos where she directs the Cleveland orchestra, and in every case I preferred the earlier versions.

My favourite K467s are Schnabel, Annie Fischer, and Curzon, a BBC disc. I don't think he recorded it for Decca.

[Mal]

Brendel and Perahia are both worthy. I acquired them both when I purchased larger CD compilations of each artist. For years my only recording was Casadesus/Szell which I still love. I also have Uchida/Tate but find Mal to be spot on here

Stephen Plaistow, Gramophone: "But if, for you, the D minor Concerto represents one of the fullest realizations of his 'daemonic' aspect, ... you may find her range of expression too narrow... the urgency and restlessness of the first movement are more strongly characterized by some other players and conductors—by Brendel and Marriner, for example... or Serkin and Szell on CBS..."

"Brendel ... it is who releases the extraordinary energy of the outer movements, better than anyone, and finds an ideal balance of power and grace with which to project the concerto as a whole. Added to that, the crisp and at times almost fiery orchestral style Marriner draws from the ASMF seems to me preferable to the more conventional contribution of Tate with the ECO..."

"... too delicate for me. Her inclination to withdraw from a forte rather than sustain it for its full period is almost a mannerism, and when that happens the presence of her playing is weakened."

"The cadenzas, her own, have to be endured, ... I have heard worse. In sum, her recording of it doesn't rank with the finest... I recommend that you hear the record and enjoy it on its own terms, in the expectation that Uchida playing Mozart is going to be something of interest to all discerning collectors."

For "discerning collectors" maybe... big maybe... but how can this be a library choice for a beginner?

[jayne lee wilson]

Any mention of the recent, widely-acclaimed (including by me) MCO/Andsnes...? A lovely set with 20, 22 and the K478....

Or Brautigam?

[Rolmill]

Any mention of the recent, widely-acclaimed (including by me) MCO/Andsnes...? A lovely set with 20, 22 and the K478....

Or Brautigam?

I didn't catch the whole programme, so may have missed a reference to Andsnes, but the Brautigam/Willens was certainly mentioned positively (not sure why it didn't make the final three).

The Uchida excerpts sounded OK to my ears, but I sometimes find her playing a little manicured in Mozart.

I enjoyed what I did hear of the programme (and may go back and listen again to the whole thing), not least because I felt the reviewer focussed mainly on the positive aspects of her shortlisted recordings more than on the perceived flaws.

[silvestrione]

I thought this was a magnificent, fascinating survey, given that it had to be squeezed into the time available. Listeners could certainly take their own favourites away from it, in my case Primakov and Kraus before Uchida, and I was also very taken with Bilson and Bavouzet. And Schiff's cadenza makes you want to hear the whole performance!

[Barbirollians]

I have never quite understood the rave reviews for Brendel/Marriner . I find the ASMF too neat rather unimaginative rather foursquare . I much preferred the later discs Brendel made with Mackerras. Some of Perahia's recordings were outstanding IMHO - K450,451,459,488 in particular.

[smittims]

Oh well, if we didn't all like different things there'd be a lot more unemployed musicians.

[Mal]

I have never quite understood the rave reviews for Brendel/Marriner . I find the ASMF too neat rather unimaginative rather foursquare . I much preferred the later discs Brendel made with Mackerras. Some of Perahia's recordings were outstanding IMHO - K450,451,459,488 in particular.

I just listened again to Brendel/Marriner and I totally disagree! Marriner/ASMF seem turned on in this performance. They can sometimes be "rather unimaginative rather foursquare" - thinking of some minor Mozart symphonies - but not here. Listening to Perahia/ECO I find ECO, although better than foursquare, don't have quite the brio and drive of ASMF. Maybe Perahia should have hired a conductor? Also, although Perahia has a lot of Leperello like charm in the first movement, and much feeling and precision in the andante, he's lacking the maestoso of Brendel.

"‘In K467 Brendel is at his compelling best. As is probably widely known by now, his unusually quick tempo in the first movement gives the music an opera buffa feel, enhancing the brilliance of the piano figurations without in any way compromising the innate grandeur of Mozart's conception. Those who do not much care for Brendel's playing often cite what they take to be unalluring piano sound; yet his account of the slow movement of K467 is wholly alluring, the melody exquisitely placed and traced, the quiet pulse or the left-hand accompaniments touched in with a lambency of tone which even Edwin Fischer might have wondered at.’ - Richard Osborne

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/alfred-brendel-10-essential-albums

[Sir Velo]

Brautigam again for me. Superlative technique. Cleaner, lither, more exciting performances than any of the anachronistic old school pianoforte arrangements.

[Barbirollians]

I just listened again to Brendel/Marriner and I totally disagree! Marriner/ASMF seem turned on in this performance. They can sometimes be "rather unimaginative rather foursquare" - thinking of some minor Mozart symphonies - but not here. Listening to Perahia/ECO I find ECO, although better than foursquare, don't have quite the brio and drive of ASMF. Maybe Perahia should have hired a conductor? Also, although Perahia has a lot of Leperello like charm in the first movement, and much feeling and precision in the andante, he's lacking the maestoso of Brendel.

"‘In K467 Brendel is at his compelling best. As is probably widely known by now, his unusually quick tempo in the first movement gives the music an opera buffa feel, enhancing the brilliance of the piano figurations without in any way compromising the innate grandeur of Mozart's conception. Those who do not much care for Brendel's playing often cite what they take to be unalluring piano sound; yet his account of the slow movement of K467 is wholly alluring, the melody exquisitely placed and traced, the quiet pulse or the left-hand accompaniments touched in with a lambency of tone which even Edwin Fischer might have wondered at.’ - Richard Osborne

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature...sential-albums

Brendel and Mackerras sadly did not get round to K467 . I have no issue with Brendel's playing .