Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Performer, Orchestra), Richard Goode (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Richard Goode
• Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (October 15, 1996)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005J4G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,720 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456: Allegro vivace

2. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456: Andante un poco sostenuto

3. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456: Allegro vivace

4. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: Allegro

5. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: Romance

6. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: Rondo (Allegro assai)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What was Wolfgang doing at Indianapolis?, October 7, 2006

By 

Paul S. (Oakland, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20 (Audio CD)

Answer: about 200 mph, in the third movement of the D minor. At 6:52, Goode may have set a record for this track: he shaves almost a minute off Curzon's time, and beats even Bilson by over half a minute. The slow movement likewise is the fastest I know of, which costs it some of its depth, and sounds almost as staccato as if it were played on a pianoforte.
But if your fondness for lively Mozart extends to allowing an allegro assai to be played quasi prestissimo, you're going to love this disc. The D minor is energized not only by fast tempi but by pointed accents and impassioned playing. The unusually detailed CD notes explain that the D minor was composed around the time Mozart wrote Don Giovanni; evidently an opera buffa style was emulated here. Despite the fast pace, the players stay on top of the music, with a great deal of nuance and only a few, very slight lapses of precision (it is the clarity of this recording that tattles on them). Goode uses Beethoven's cadenza in the first movement; in the finale, he offers a terse, refreshing and brilliant cadenza of his own (none of the wallowing in the spotlight that characterizes too many self-composed cadenzas).
The Concerto #18 receives a less notable performance, straightforward and polished.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great modern interpretation, September 23, 2001

By 

"erang" (Ramat Gan Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20 (Audio CD)

a wonderful performance. goode is excellent, especially on no. 20. the playing is strong, perhaps too strong for those who like the romantic approach.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful performance, September 13, 2008

By 

Carsten Knoch (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20 (Audio CD)

This is a beautiful performance of Mozart's 20th and 18th piano concertos, one of those records that changed my perception of how Mozart concertos could be played. I had grown up listening to Barenboim and Gulda playing these works (my mom's record collection), and this is entirely in a different league. Well, `different league' makes it sounds as if it somehow invalidates the other, older versions. That's not really it. But the playing and recording quality are delightfully superior in this modern version. Goode, an American pianist, plays these concertos energetically, and with a very Viennese `lightness' that seems wholly appropriate to the material. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the famous `conductor-less' group from New York, seems an ideal pairing for this material. I love their complete Mozart Wind Concertos, and this seems to confirm their knack for Mozart concertos. I believe this disc could get anyone excited about Mozart's piano works. Maybe that's a bit of wishful thinking, but do give it a try :)