5.0 out of 5 stars
Warm and wonderful, October 4, 2010
This review is from: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 19 & 20 (Audio CD)
I was so surprised to see that no one had already reviewed this that I had to write something. Basically, this is a wonderful, sonorous recording, reminiscent of those "Living Presence" albums from the 1950s and 1960s.
It may not be "realistic" in the sense of how a concert sounds when you are at the hall; perhaps it feels more like you are listening from inside the piano. BUT... most of the excess of such a recording style are tamed, and what is left is a very sensual, sumptuous listening experience.
This is chocolate mousse. This is good cheesecake. This is a date with a girl with an extra 10 kilos in all the right places.
The performance? It does not draw excessive attention to itself; all the notes are there, clearly played with proper timing. It's Mozart! If you don't screw it up, it'll sound great. I think there is a sea of good Mozart recordings out there, perhaps because no classical musician can avoid learning his music (and really, who would want to?). So, unsurprisingly, the performance itself is done well, with proper wit and timing.
It is the recording techniques that tends to vary more, imho. This one was done very, very well. One last recommendation: if you play it loud and accompany it with a good bottle of wine, then you too may feel tempted to write a gushing review for it.
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