# Brautigam Complete Mozart Concerti Completely Trashed



## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Been away for spell, but this brought me back (and maybe it's already been discussed?). But I've got Brautigam's complete collection on order. I love his recordings of Beethoven on the pianoforte along with his interpretive flair. So, I was excited to add him alongside Bilson and Immerseel (whose recordings I like but have issues with). Bilson's technique hits the wall in some of the faster passages and the micing is such that his little pianoforte all but drowns. Immerseel can be cold as a Netherlandic ice cube.

Anyway, I was curious to read reviews of Brautigam and came across this gem:

The reviewer writes: "I received the following note from conductor Michael Willens: 'Since you are clearly completely unimpressed with what we do, it might make more sense for you to jerk off at home rather then [sic] in public. I am sure that the classical music community and CD buying public will be most thankful.'"

It only gets better from there, Hurwitz proceeds to utterly trash Willens and Brautigam:

" The problems with this release are basically the same as those with the last one, only more so. Willens has at his disposal a pint-sized period-performance pickup band, with a teeny, tiny string section playing with the kind of desiccated "authentic" tone that would have made Mozart roll over in his grave, and that makes hash out of his carefully calibrated orchestral textures. The harmonic filler is often louder than the tunes, with the curious result that even with such small forces tutti passages tend to sound clogged. Bass lines also have less impact than they should.

These concertos, particularly with their large wind sections (including trumpets and drums), come across as sounding like asthmatic wind serenades accompanied now and then by anorexic violins..."

And he goes on. Hurwitz also trashed Brautigam's earlier recording here:

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-15963/

"Ugly is as ugly sounds. Here is yet another barfalicious period instrument ensemble-amateur hour masquerading as scholarship."

And on he goes.

Have to say, I think of myself as a fairly discerning listener. I do think the micing could have been better (compare these recordings to those done by Bezuidenhout who, in my opinion, blows both Brautigam and Willens straight out of the water) but that's only because Bezuidehhout, in my opinion, blows _*all*_ prior recordings of Mozart's Concerti out of the water. I mean, if you have Spotify, get a load of this:






Talk about a breath of fresh air. This is not your standard, silken-glove [insert performer and side of hors d'oeuvre here] performance. This is Mozart barely keeping his *** on the piano bench.

Anyway, I still think Willens's effort remains among the best. Am I nuts?

On a side note, I also disagree with critics who lambasted Parrot's orchestra in Brautigam's recording of the Beethoven Piano concerti.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

> Anyway, I still think Willens's effort remains among the best. Am I nuts?


No, of course not, you have your own opinion.


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