# Recordings of Mozart piano concertos



## KenOC

OK, Mozart Piano Concertos. Who's best? Who's good? Not so good?

Obviously there's a big menu of choices and some strikingly different approaches. So what are your experiences with the various cycles, or even with individual recordings?


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## Itullian

analog Anda
digital Uchida


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## Pugg

anolog : also *Anda.*



digital* Perahia *


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## Albert7

Grimaud's Mozart piano concertos


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## KenOC

I'm getting very fond of the new cycle (still incomplete) by Angela Hewitt with Hannu Lintu conducting the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canadian). Beautifully played, between HIP style and traditional, but what really makes it special is the care and striking interpretations by the orchestra. Here's one of the five discs on Amazon so far.


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## Itullian

KenOC said:


> I'm getting very fond of the new cycle (still incomplete) by Angela Hewitt with Hannu Lintu conducting the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canadian). Beautifully played, between HIP style and traditional, but what really makes it special is the care and striking interpretations by the orchestra. Here's one of the five discs on Amazon so far.


Havent heard them, but I enjoy Hewitt.


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## Albert7

Itullian said:


> Havent heard them, but I enjoy Hewitt.


If Hewitt do it,
Then I knew it
Her piano playing I grew into it.


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## bigshot

Anda, Perahia. Liquid. Beautiful. Perfection.


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## Albert7

Anda's version of the Elvira Madigan concerto is still a benchmark recording for me as well. I have it on vinyl and love it all the way to home base.


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## shadowdancer

A vote for Gulda&Abbado


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## quack

Anda for me too.

But I have to put a word in for Pires again. Her recording really helped me get Mozart, before that I was pretty indifferent to the classical era.









Oh and the Annie Fischer recordings, mentioned in her thread recently, are beautiful.


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## Jeff W

Another good word for Geza Anda's set from me. Love it.









I've also taken a liking to Viviana Sofronitsky's set. Has all the Concertos for Pianoforte including the Concertos for Two and Three Pianos. Also has the Concertos No. 1 - 4 (K. 37. 39, 40 & 41) and the Three Concertos after J. C. Bach (K. 107) played on harpsichord. Mixed very well too, the pianoforte doesn't get 'lost' in the sound of the orchestra as it does on the Bilson\Gardiner set.


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## DavidA

Perahia and Brendel for complete sets.

Annie Fischer is fantastic in what she recorded.

Solomon and Gould in 24, Gilels in 27

The double concerto - Perahia and Lupu.


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## realdealblues

Perahia all the way, especially if you want to hear Piano Concertos 1-4 as well as Concertos 7 & 10 which most sets leave out.

Brendel with Marriner is actually quite good as well although he leaves out 1-4.

Schiff with Vegh is excellent but again concertos 1-4 as well as 7 & 10 are left out.

Anda is good but the orchestra isn't always the best. Woodwind intonation frequently being an issue and 7 & 10 are left out of the set.

Ashkenazy is complete but overly romantic.

Barenboim's set on EMI doesn't include 7 & 10 and his later set on Teldec doesn't include 1-4. Barenboim frequently annoys me with tempo issues. Playing movements marked as Allegros as if they are marked Presto, and slow movements marked Adagio he often plays as a Largo.

I also am not a fan of the Gardiner/Bilson set which also leaves out 1-4.

I've probably got another 5 complete cycles and over 200 individual recordings of Mozart's Piano Concertos but those are usually the most referenced.

For under $20 you can usually pick up the Perahia set which includes ALL of the concertos and in mind is the closest to catching all of Mozart's personality and characteristics in one box.


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## hpowders

Van Immerseel and Bilson for complete fortepiano sets. Both excellent.

I cannot whole-heatedly recommend any of the complete piano sets.

However, I would not want to be without Artur Rubinstein's recordings of the N0. 20 in D minor and No. 23 in A Major.

Also, all Mozart concerto performances with the name Serkin on the label, both Peter and Rudolf, are highly recommended!


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## KenOC

Haven't seen Richard Goode mentioned. He recorded several discs of the most popular concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. They have been my favorite performances from time to time.


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## ptr

I sorely lament that Robert Levin never got/will get to finish his cycle for L'oiseau Lyre, the 8 or so releases I have are the best HIP one's, Anda is a classic, love Curzon and Fischer, have a soft spot for Schiff's Decca cycle!

/ptr


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## Brahmsian Colors

Favorite Mozart Piano Concertos(not necessarily in order of preference):

No.20---Clara Haskil with Paumgartner/Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Haskil with Markevitch/Lamoureux Orchestra and Annie Fischer with Boult/Philharmonia Orchestra

No.21---Artur Rubinstein with Wallenstein/Orchestra and Annie Fischer with Lukacs/Orchestra of Hungarian Radio & Television

No.22---Annie Fischer with Sawallisch/Philharmonia Orchestra and Robert Casadesus with Szell/Columbia Symphony Orchestra

No.23---Artur Rubinstein/Wallenstein, Clara Haskil/Paumgartner and Annie Fischer/Boult

No.24---Clara Haskil with Markevitch/Lamoureux Orchestra and Robert Casadesus with Szell/Cleveland Orchestra


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## Pugg

Love the Uchida set, alas not recorded the "early" ones.


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## pcnog11

realdealblues said:


> Perahia all the way, especially if you want to hear Piano Concertos 1-4 as well as Concertos 7 & 10 which most sets leave out.
> 
> Brendel with Marriner is actually quite good as well although he leaves out 1-4.
> 
> Schiff with Vegh is excellent but again concertos 1-4 as well as 7 & 10 are left out.
> 
> Anda is good but the orchestra isn't always the best. Woodwind intonation frequently being an issue and 7 & 10 are left out of the set.
> 
> Ashkenazy is complete but overly romantic.
> 
> Barenboim's set on EMI doesn't include 7 & 10 and his later set on Teldec doesn't include 1-4. Barenboim frequently annoys me with tempo issues. Playing movements marked as Allegros as if they are marked Presto, and slow movements marked Adagio he often plays as a Largo.
> 
> I also am not a fan of the Gardiner/Bilson set which also leaves out 1-4.
> 
> I've probably got another 5 complete cycles and over 200 individual recordings of Mozart's Piano Concertos but those are usually the most referenced.
> 
> For under $20 you can usually pick up the Perahia set which includes ALL of the concertos and in mind is the closest to catching all of Mozart's personality and characteristics in one box.


The complete 27 concertos always fascinated me. I have 2 sets and other individual ones. I like Ashkenazy since because of the tone colour he created and also he conducted at the piano. Gardiner/Bilson is a very good recording (sonic wise) but the orchestra sometime overwhelm the piano because it is recorded on a fortepiano.

One individual recording that I am very fond of over the last couple of years is Jan Lisiecki. He is young Canadian pianist and did no. 20 and 21. I like how he pace the music especially during the first movement of no.20. He played a variation on the slow movement which I did not hear from others. It is very refreshing and give a nice spin on the romance. Have anyone heard this and do you have an opinion on this? I would love to hear how people think. Thanks.


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## Animal the Drummer

realdealblues said:


> Perahia all the way, especially if you want to hear Piano Concertos 1-4 as well as Concertos 7 & 10 which most sets leave out.
> 
> Brendel with Marriner is actually quite good as well although he leaves out 1-4.
> 
> Schiff with Vegh is excellent but again concertos 1-4 as well as 7 & 10 are left out.
> 
> Anda is good but the orchestra isn't always the best. Woodwind intonation frequently being an issue and 7 & 10 are left out of the set.
> 
> Ashkenazy is complete but overly romantic.
> 
> Barenboim's set on EMI doesn't include 7 & 10 and his later set on Teldec doesn't include 1-4. Barenboim frequently annoys me with tempo issues. Playing movements marked as Allegros as if they are marked Presto, and slow movements marked Adagio he often plays as a Largo.
> 
> I also am not a fan of the Gardiner/Bilson set which also leaves out 1-4.
> 
> I've probably got another 5 complete cycles and over 200 individual recordings of Mozart's Piano Concertos but those are usually the most referenced.
> 
> For under $20 you can usually pick up the Perahia set which includes ALL of the concertos and in mind is the closest to catching all of Mozart's personality and characteristics in one box.


Good summary. I'm with you on Ashkenazy - for my money he loves the music "not wisely but too well" and some of his phrasing gets lumpy as a result. The only set on which I would somewhat disagree is Anda's, which seems pretty popular in this thread but which has never been a favourite of mine as I find it a little po-faced for my liking. Forced to choose one set I think I'd go for Perahia, with Brendel close behind.


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## Monsalvat

What’s the over/under on the two Barenboim cycles? How do they compare to each other, all things considered? I enjoyed his recording of the Coronation concerto (No. 26, KV 537) from the first cycle (EMI, English Chamber Orchestra). Would be curious to know if the Berlin cycle is an improvement or not so much.


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## Kreisler jr

I have had the EMI cycle for years and recently got the second half of the Berlin recordings (18-27), partly because 20-27 can be had very cheaply as twofers or a 4-disc-set (the whole set as box used to be cheap but apparently not anymore) I think they are both very good, among the best. The older is more uneven with a few a bit on the slow side but I also find e.g. the d and c minor more dramatic in the older recordings. Overall the more recent ones might be a bit less "romantic/Beethovenian", still not at all small scale. Cf. complaint above about tempi, while I don't share it, in the older set e.g. the slow movement of K 271 is taken very slow and "romantic" (but I have not heard the Berlin 271).
I am not sure but I think some of the earlier concertos of the Berlin set were mostly recorded live (have seen some complaints about audience noises in comments but also people liking especially the live recordings, 20-27 are all studio, though, and were, I believe recorded earlier (around 30 years ago, so there are "only" about 20 years or less between the two cycles)


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## Montarsolo

Recently I compared a piano concerto with Anda, Perahia and Barenboim.

Barenboim was nicely recorded but I thought it was a strict interpretation. A Beethoven pianist playing Mozart. Perahia and Anda play much more sparkling. With Anda I have the problem that everything is played way too fast. I'll stick with Perahia for now.


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## Kreisler jr

I never liked Perahia's Mozart although admittedly I have only heard a few and a long time ago. I agree to some extent that Barenboim is less clichéed "Mozartean", but "bigger", I also happen to prefer this to the "china doll tinkling".  And the orchestral contribution (which is as important to me as the piano, or more) is no contest, Barenboim is much better than Perahia's I think.
The old Barenboim box is so cheap and easily available that I'd recommend this as "base Mozart". If one already has the old one or other Mozart concerti one is happy with, I wouldn't go to great lengths to get the Berlin recordings, but I think there are also very good.


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## Monsalvat

Thanks for the help. I'm going to stick with the Berlin cycle for now, but I'm able to access both cycles through streaming. I'm really enjoying what I've heard so far from the Berlin cycle. I'm hoping to get more familiar with these works, especially 18–27. I already had Anda's cycle which I enjoyed, and many of the Szell/Casadesus recordings (which are superb) but I'm really happy with Barenboim also (so far). There are a bunch of others I'm also eyeing but I think this will be enough to satisfy me for now!


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## 89Koechel

Monsalvat said:


> Thanks for the help. I'm going to stick with the Berlin cycle for now, but I'm able to access both cycles through streaming. I'm really enjoying what I've heard so far from the Berlin cycle. I'm hoping to get more familiar with these works, especially 18–27. I already had Anda's cycle which I enjoyed, and many of the Szell/Casadesus recordings (which are superb) but I'm really happy with Barenboim also (so far). There are a bunch of others I'm also eyeing but I think this will be enough to satisfy me for now!


Yes, the Szell/Casadesus recordings are excellent; maybe a STANDARD, of sorts. In the Concertos 14 through 19, try to find Peter (not Rudolf ... no offense to the elder) Serkin, with Alexander Schneider/RCA.


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## Kreisler jr

Serkin/Schneider has been re-issued in a "white box" that includes also two solo and one chamber disc. These are also among my favorites, esp. #16-19. Schneider is a very good accompanist; less "cool" than Casadesus/Szell. The best ever accompanist IMO is Vegh (like Schneider a string quartet player...) but Schiff is often too subdued and not as good.
The solo discs in the Serkin box are highly interesting but quite excentric (often slow and serious). It's a pity that Peter Serkin never recorded any other Mozart piano concerti.
The EMI Barenboim (and here I have not heard the Berlin) is also very good in some often "overlooked" works, such as #11-13 or 16.


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