Customer Reviews

Mozart: The Complete Piano Concertos [Box Set]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I guess if you "just want the music" of all Mozart's piano concertos, then this is a good buy; but unlike the previous reviewer, I think that the last A Major and B flat leave something to be desired- namely musical cadenzas. Of the whole set, the early to middle works come out the best with the most authentic flavor. Mozart's later Vienna works present more of a challenge to the super-talented Barenboim, for there appears to be a strange tendency to vascillate between very romantic points, and those equally dry. Few Mozart recordings exist where you will hear a better rapport between soloist and orchestra, but there is this nagging feeling that it could have been done better with a separate conductor.

There are so many ways to play Mozart effectively, it's unfortunate that Barenboim's performances of the later concertos aren't as moving as they could be. If you're looking for a great combination of performances, Barenboim is a good choice for the earlier ones. Alfred Brendel with Neville Marriner, and Richard Goode with the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra both have superior complete cycles out, while Ashkenazy and Uchida really shine in the later concertos (not as much earlier, however). Ashkenazy plays up Mozart's romantic side, Uchida takes an ice-water "touch-me-not" reading of the music.

Few pianists, however, can claim the title "Mozartian" as well as the late pianist Clifford Curzon. I don't know that he has a complete cycle out in one box, but you can rarely go wrong with him.

Barenboim's is a strong submission, but there are better, and I would suggest those.

EDIT: As the commenter below rightly corrects, Richard Goode/Orpheus do not have a complete cycle out. I should also rectify a grievous omission: Murray Perahia also has a FANTASTIC complete cycle (with inconsistent audio quality) out, which may be unsurpassed in its elegance.

Mozart's piano concertos occupy a very special place amongst his works. Circumstances enabled him to become regarded in Vienna as composer and performer when he presented twelve of the later concertos to an appreciative audience in Vienna in the 1780s. His letters reveal how personal and important these works were to him. The piano concertos also show how he could imbue a musical form with a depth and a breadth that no one before, and few since, has encompassed.

EMI invited Daniel Barenboim to record the complete series, with the English Chamber Orchestra, as conductor and soloist. The recordings were made at London's Abbey Road Studios between 1967 and 1974. In CD form, in a little box that will occupy only the width of an average size book on you shelf, the performances were re-released, sounding warm, natural and detailed, in 1998. All the solo piano concertos are here, together with two rondos for piano and orchestra.

Other pianists might produce a better effect here or there, or provide different inflections and nuances that are appropriate, but Barenboim's interpretations seem to me to be totally satisfying. He uses what Mozart cadenzas have survived and elsewhere provides either his own or those written by creative keyboard players of an earlier generation such as Edwin Fischer and Wanda Landowska.

Recordings have not yet been able to capture the spatial dynamics that seems so magical at an actual performance of a Mozart piano concerto. You can't yet hear and see that only the wind section of the orchestra is playing, or that the trumpet is announcing from the back of the stage that the D Minor Concerto is about to finish. Meanwhile, recordings such as this will help keep great music alive in your head and your home.

It's no mystery that Mozart was more or less singularly responsible for inventing the genre of the piano concerto as we know it today (all credit be due to JC Bach, however, from whom Mozart took great inspiration). Personally, I feel it is in his Piano concertos that Mozart sounds like Mozart! Those colorful melodies of the first movements of No 25 & No 20; the adagio of No 23. I'm so glad that such music exists - for without it the world of music would be incomplete.

Out of the 27 piano concertos that Mozart wrote, this recording has 25 (notably missing are Nos 7 and 10 which were written for two soloists). But my god, Barenboim will blow you away with the ones that are there! This set is an amalgamation of recordings he did of the concertos for EMI between 1964 and 1988 - and you can listen how his style has matured during that period. But I can certainly assume that Barenboim takes great pleasure in playing Mozart because that is precisely what these recordings transpire. Notably, I have not heard a finer recoding of No 25 (which happens to be my personal favorite) nor have I heard the adagio of No 23 sound as natural as it does here. The only downfall of this set is the fact that the packaging could have been slightly better: the 10 CDs are in 10 hard paper wallets, enclosed in a cardboard box. It wounds me to take them in and out as they rub against the paper.

Overall I recommend that if you are a dedicated classical CD collecter: this is the box set you should have sitting next to your Glenn Gould Sony Classical Edition of JS Bach's piano works.

When Daniel Barenboim decided to face the huge challenge of playing the Complete Set of Piano Concerts he was making (without knowing at this moment)one of his multiple artistic triumphs.
The first impressive detail to remark is the convincent maturity and silent self discipline self impossed by himself. But the genius of Barenboim's playing is the absolute conviction he always sounds so natural. And hardly you will find the minimum sensation of effort as you just can feel it with Brendel for instance.
I still have these recordings in vynil format and from time to time I compare both formats. Go for these records and you will not only enjoy to Mozart's genius but the grandness of a real Keyboard Giant in his twenties.
After the wise decision to perform and conduct the orchestra from the piano, the interpretations acquired a major enrichment and enlightment, and somehow these recordings constitute the previous step for that decision.
To make a major disection of Concert by Concert would be extremely interseting but it would be equally long. There are some higlights performances and in my opinion these are: The 24th, 23th, 19th,12th, 25th, 14th, 15th and the first six.
In honor to the truth there are unbeatable major versions in other performances.
The 9th I find to Geza Anda, the 18 th Andras Schiff, 20th Myra Hess with Walter in last fifties, 21 th Casadesus and Munch in the last forties not available in CD format, 22th Fisher and Serkin, 26 th Gulda Harnoncourt, 27th Haskill and Curzon.
Absolutely recommended for every real Mozart's admirer.

I have nothing against the piano concerti of Mozart, in fact, apart from the last symphonies, these represent the pinnacle of his acievements. However, the tempi chosen by Barenboim tend to leave something to be desired. The last movement of the famous and ravishing C major concerto, no. 21 is slow to the point of affectation where it ruins the effect. I don't really agree with the Barenboim cadenzas as well. Somehow, they seem a little...dry and lacking in spirit with the rest of the concerto. However, there are moments of pure ravishing beauty in execution, most notably in the last two concerti. For the last A major and B flat major pieces, it is difficult to find a better recording. Somehow, I get the impression that the orchestration could be better as well. Perhaps if Barenboim concentrated on performance an left the conducting to another it would have turned out better. If you have already heard the concerti and know them well, this set would be an interesting acquisition. However, I would not recomment ot for the first-timer in this genre. This however, is only my personal view.

This set is beautifully performed and is also priced competitively. I am very satisfied with my purchase, though I'm sorry it doesn't include the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos.

Barenboim's own cadenzas are enjoyable. I don't notice any lack of maturity in the playing, but this may be my inexperience!

Some prefer Ashkenazy, but it is quite a bit more expensive [though it does include those works just mentioned].

I am confident most readers will be very happy with this set.

Highly recommended

If you look at the photograph of the back of the box, you will see that it's ADD, not DDD as noted in the "product details" section. And, the sound quality is not as clear and sharp as a good DDD. In fact, I've heard much clearer ADD recordings; I don't think the master tape was the greatest.

As far as the musical quality of the set goes, it's ok, not great. Barenboim is a wonderful pianist and an excellent conductor, but he's no better than average when he tries to do both at the same time. This would be a good set to put in a 5-disc player to have going continuously at low volume when you're trying to sell your house, but it doesn't have the magic to excite the listener as music per se.

I'm convinced there really is a good reason to have that second guy or gal up there waving a stick.

Danny B. is good, especially on the big ones like the 25 and 26. He isn't as poetic as Murray or as flashy as Vlad but steady never-the-less.
The ECO shows some slack playing at times which belies their consistency for Perahia and Ashkenazy.

We bought this as a gift for a friend, as we already own it, and think it is the best thing in our CD library. Barenboim brings out the humour and the warmth in the concertos without being over-romantic, and brings emotional richness to his performance - in great contrast to the rather mechanical and cold renditions by other performers who are supposed to be Mozartian 'experts'. We think Amadeus would approve whole-heartedly of these performances.

I bought this because at the time, it was the only way I could afford to have all of Mozart's piano concerti.

I don't regret buying it, but at the same time, I'm glad I have "better" recordings of my favorite ones. I forget whether it is No. 9 or 19 that B-Boim rushes though, but it is ultra-annoying. Also, the cadenzas aren't as good as Brendel's. (in the Phillips collection) or Alicia de Laroccha. (on individual RCA recordings)

On the other hand, if I hadn't bought this, I would not have heard the brilliant No. 5 piano concerto, which was Mozart's favorite.

I think B-Boim was just at the stage where he was starting to discover that he was in the world's elite pianists, and fell into the faster is better line of thought. This is only a couple of them though.

With the Murray Perahia (sp?) set only being $6 more, I would certainly go for that. This is early Barenboim, after all. Generally speaking, the more mature a pianist gets, the better he gets. (until they lose physical ability at least)