Mozart: The Piano Concertos [Box Set] [Box set]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Jeffrey Tate (Conductor), English Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Mitsuko Uchida (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mitsuko Uchida
• Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Jeffrey Tate
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 8
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B000DZ6VAK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,584 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #6 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Keyboard > Piano
  • #10 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Classical (c.1770-1830) > General AAS
  • #10 in Music > Classical > Chamber Music > General

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: MOZART,W.A.
Title: PIANO CONCERTOS
Street Release Date: 04/11/2006
Domestic
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking Beauty and Truth, November 23, 2006

By 

R. C. Ross (Birmingham) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart: The Piano Concertos [Box Set] (Audio CD)

The first impression is of excellent recorded sound: transparent, perfectly balanced and full of colour; the orchestral playing and conducting equally sensitive and flexible, full of character and life. Mitsuko Uchida is a perfect Mozart pianist. Her playing is elegant, deeply felt, personal and wonderfully idiosyncratic. There are delightfully wayward moments with slow movements stretched to a gossamer thread. With playing of this character and refinement were these movements to last forever they would still be too short! A delightful set, truthfully beautiful - such music leaves one speechless and amazed!

88 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before you buy this set, be warned, January 3, 2007

By 

Tom Poore (South Euclid, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: The Piano Concertos [Box Set] (Audio CD)

The five stars are for the performances and recordings. For my taste, Uchida and Tate are the ones to have for the Mozart concertos. But there are two things you should know before you buy this set:

1) The first four of Mozart's numbered concertos are not included. Actually, these aren't really by Mozart--they're his arrangements of music by other composers. Frankly, I don't miss them.

2) Both the 16th and the 19th concertos are begun on one disk and continued on another. Obviously this is a cost-cutting measure. But I find it annoying to have to shuttle between two disks to hear one concerto. I dealt with this by burning concertos 16 and 19 to a single disk and including it with my boxed set. If you don't want to do this, or you don't have the equipment to burn a CD, then you need to decide if shuttling between two CDs for these two concertos is worth the money you'll save in buying this budget set. Spreading a single Mozart concerto over two disks is simply unacceptable--an example of a decision made by people with no aesthetic judgment. Either redo the order of the concertos in the 8 disk set, or add one more disk.

The music and performances, of course, are sublime. The perfection of Mozart's music is matched by Uchida's flawless and tasteful playing.

63 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mozart according to Mitsuko, November 28, 2006

By 

Frank Bunyard (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: The Piano Concertos [Box Set] (Audio CD)

Mitsuko Uchida is a brilliant technician who pours her heart and soul into this reading of the Mozart concertos. This is "Mozart-plus-Mitsuko." Her charismatic performance is what makes this set of concertos unique and in my mind superior to all others. There is a close contender, the interpretation by Rudolf Buchbinder. Uchida is more profound, but Buchbinder's energetic precision qualifies him as the first runner-up.

But there is really no comparing the two. Buchbinder has an entirely different approach and is an entirely different person. One might classify Uchida's style as "romantic" and Buchbinder's as "classical." Uchida's evocative style comes from her inner warmth and passion. Her incredible virtuosity illuminates the depth of character of both Mozart and Mitsuko.

Mitsuko Uchida achieves those rare moments in great art when the revelation of divinity from the composer's inspired genius is passed through the performer's hands to inspire the audience. It works a kind of miraculous therapy.

The English Chamber Orchestra is brilliant under the baton of Jeffrey Tate. The orchestra sounds more focused and articulate than in the Murray Perahia concertos (under his own direction).

P.S. Theologian Karl Barth said that when the Angels play for God, they play Bach. But when they are relaxing by themselves, they play Mozart. I recommend both the Uchida and the Buchbinder. I think the Angels would prefer Mitsuko.