# Favorite recordings of Mozart piano concertos



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

What are your favorite performances of the Mozart piano concerti? I very much like the recordings by Richard Goode and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra without conductor. These CDs don't have the complete cycle, but they cover the biggies: 9, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25and 27.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I tend to be partial to the Schiff recordings; his account of no. 17 is pure bliss.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Been really enjoying the PC 13 here -- though I have some serious reservations about the sound engineering unfortunately


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)




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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Marthan: seems very well played indeed, though the concerto is in an arrangement for string quintet and piano.


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

*Murray Perahia

English Chamber Orchestra*


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

In the past I mostly listened to the Perahia above, but yesterday I got Christian Zacharias/Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne on MDG, and it sounds great. Only heard no. 26 and 12 in the car, it's a Volkswagen Tiguan


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

KenOC said:


> What are your favorite performances of the Mozart piano concerti?


Complete HIP:









Complete modern instruments:









There are lots of great recordings of individual concertos; my favorites are those of Zoltan Kocsis and Stephen Kovacevich on modern piano, Andreas Staier on fortepiano.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

KenOC said:


> What are your favorite performances of the Mozart piano concerti? I very much like the recordings by Richard Goode and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra without conductor. These CDs don't have the complete cycle, but they cover the biggies: 9, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25and 27.


Yes, I like those Richard Goode versions, and I have two of them.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> Marthan:. . . the concerto is in an arrangement for string quintet and piano.


Of course, that's one reason I like it. I just wish the bass in the recording were a bit tighter.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

The Perahia above is very good. I also really enjoy Anda with Camerata Academica des Salzburger Mozarteums, Brendel with Marriner and the ASMF, and Pires with Abbado and the COE.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Some recordings of these wonder works I have:









Brendel is superb









Serkin even better









Pershing plays very beautifully indeed









For original instruments

Any of these has something to say.


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

Going to add this as 1. B to 1. A above -









Mozart - The Piano Concertos

Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)

Philharmonia Orchestra


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Mollie John said:


> Going to add this as 1. B to 1. A above -
> 
> View attachment 126326
> 
> ...


Heard this guy play a couple in concert years ago. Fine pianist.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Ashkenazy is very good here






My own feeling is that he was a fine pianist when he left Russia at least.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

I go back to these a lot.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

We certainly have an abundance of riches when I think of how few recordings of these works were around when I started collecting records


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

For selected concertos, Clara Haskil; for the complete set, Ingrid Haebler.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I have like 10 versions of No. 20, K466. My favourite now is Howard Shelley's, very moody. For No. 21 K467 it may be Kovacevich or Perahia. For No. 17 it's Hans Richer Haaser. No. 22 with Perahia. For No. 27 it's Emil Gilels for sure.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Brendel, Anda, Schiff


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

Not only The pianist, Vegh is incredible.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

In this order .


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## perdido34 (Mar 11, 2015)

isorhythm said:


> I go back to these a lot.


Not a fan of these. The Uchida-conducted versions of a number of these concerti with the Cleveland Orchestra are much less "dainty." It isn't a complete set, although she has conducted and played all of the Mozart concerti with Cleveland over the last decade.

I like Kirschnereit and Perahia a lot among the complete sets, but the Casadesus/Szell recordings were my "imprints."


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

*Anda vs Schiff*


















I'm certainly in love with the sound of the Mozarteum Salzburg. So I looked for recordings of Piano Concertos (I don't own a single set) and found out that Géza Anda had also recorded and conducted them. When I play the Adagio of K.488, I like his playing more, although the digital sound of the Schiff fits better added to my collection of Complete Symphonies with Hans Graf and Divertimenti with Sándor Végh. I don't know if it's a mirage or Schiff has other highlights.

My question is, according to the contents of these two boxes, apart from the Piano Concertos, which box should I get?


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Briefly, it seems the first is more like a Mozart box and the second an Anda box, so this should guide your choice. The Bartok with Fricsay/Anda is one of the best recordings ever, but you can easily get this on a single disc. 
Whereas if you want Mozart, the first box really has a lot of it, including some lesser known works.

There are 20 years or more in between, and I think Vegh had turned the Camerata Academica into a better ensemble in the 80s than it had been in the '60s. Vegh is also a far better conductor than Anda, I actually think, Vegh was among the best conductors for Mozart, Haydn and some other music. 
Admittedly, I have only heard a few of the Anda Mozart concerti a long time ago, so the piano playing might be better than Schiff. Schiff can be a bit backward balanced and reticent but Vegh is really among the best "accompaniment" in these pieces to be had.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Casadesus, Serkin, Perahia, Schiff, Uchida


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## John Zito (Sep 11, 2021)

Back in middle school, one of the first recordings I ever purchased was Ivan Moravec, Neville Marriner, and the ASMF playing No. 20 and No. 23 on Hänssler:









This recording of the D minor concerto might be my favorite single recording of anything. No. 23 is also great, but for that I prefer the Goode/Orpheus recording that the OP mentions. Moravec and Marriner also did No. 24 and No. 25, which I haven't heard. I happen not to be too terribly fond of those anyhow.

It's on my list to check out the Gulda/Abbado recordings. What are people's thoughts on those?


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

The Barenboim is underrated. My favorite complete set. There are a few mannerisms here and there, but it’s a great mix of taste, sensitivity, and intellect.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

My favorite pianist for the Mozart Piano Concertos is Geza Anda. I especially like Nos. 11,13,15,17,21,23 and 25.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Phil loves classical said:


> I have like 10 versions of No. 20, K466. My favourite now is Howard Shelley's, very moody. For No. 21 K467 it may be Kovacevich or Perahia. For No. 17 it's Hans Richer Haaser. No. 22 with Perahia. For No. 27 it's Emil Gilels for sure.


If it isn't already in your collection, treat yourself to Richard Goode's K466. His cadenza for the finale is better than Beethoven's, IMHO of course. Clara Haskil also had a very special way with this concerto, though the accompaniments on her recordings aren't always worthy of her.

For the concertos overall, I'm not a big fan of what to me are over-personalised performances so, though I respect the fact that others like them, Barenboim and Ashkenazy aren't on my favourites list. Nor is Anda as for my money he goes too far in the other direction. I tend to reach for the recordings by Brendel or Perahia.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> The Barenboim is underrated. My favorite complete set. There are a few mannerisms here and there, but it's a great mix of taste, sensitivity, and intellect.


Do you mean the EMI set (ca. 1970s) or ca. 20 years later on Teldec/warner?
The older one is my only complete set besides Bilson/Gardiner and I also think it is quite good. The main "fault" is that some pieces might be a bit too weighty (despite English Chamber Orchestra they clearly feel "big band" compared to HIP or even many other chamber orchestra recordings).

Gulda/Abbado are best in K 467, otherwise a bit on the cool side, also with surprisingly slow tempi in the first movement of the d minor and in all of K 503. These were among my first CDs, so I still have some fondness for them, but the later Gulda with Harnoncourt (K 488, 537) is far more interesting (There is a half dozen of 1950s/60s with Gulda on eloquence but I have not heard them.)


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I have far too many recordings of the Mozart concertos and have played many of them to death. Richard Goode's recordings with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra have always seemed more profound than any others I have heard. Brautigam's series is also a real pleasure. Zacharias has recorded two series. The first set was a bargain box with many excellent performances. The second set may be even better but was much more expensive. They are both bargains now. There are many other individual recordings I like (including a few of the Uchida-Tate recordings - many of them a too precious for me - and the Kempff CD). I am not sure I know a bad set. Is there one?


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## Endeavour (Sep 9, 2021)

There are just too many wonderful recordings of these works...

My personal favorite cycles are probably:
Rudolf Buchbinder/Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Andras Schiff/Sandor Vegh/Camerata Academy Salzburg
Murray Perahia/English Chamber Orchestra

But I've also got cycles and recordings from:
Alfred Brendel
Geza Anda
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Karl Engel
Mitsuko Uchida
Christian Zacharias
Daniel Barenboim
Malcolm Bilson
Alicia de Larrocha
Arthur Rubinstein
Vladimir Horowitz
Robert Casadesus
Wilhelm Kempff
Clifford Curzon
Clara Haskil
Rudolf Serkin
Lili Krauss
Edwin Fischer
Richard Goode
And many, many others...

This is one of those areas where I really do enjoy having literally hundreds of different recordings because so many great pianists have performed them and so many of them are enjoyable to hear.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I have a handful recordings of the concertos. Here are 3 of my favorite complete sets:
1. Brendel Marriner Philips
Great sound and great performance. Moderate to fast tempos. Beautiful, sonorous, smooth string playing. The woodwinds are especially good in terms of bringing out details that are hardly noticable in a lot of recordings. For example, the theme played by orchestra in imitation in the slow movement of #23; the sections featuring woodwinds in the slow movement of #24. 

One thing I don't like: Brendel does improvisation for a few places where the composer seems to left blank intentionally for the pianist. However, I would like those places to be omitted rather than to be filled with notes by the pianist (excluding the lost cadanzas).

2. Uchida Tate Philips
Excellent sound quality, good overall performance. Very subtle, beautiful, and well-balanced reading (especially in those famous slow movements). The tempo choices are great despite that in some final movements the tempo might be a bit slow. One thing I don't quite enjoy is that the pianist seems be a little too mannered in terms of key touching and timbre control in several sections. 

3. Anda DG
A classic reference recording. The sound is a bit edgy and less natural than the above recordings, but it is fairly good in general. Anda's mastery of the score is highly impressive from many aspects. His own cadanzas used in pieces like #20 is well-thought-out and fit into the context good. It sets a pretty high standard for all the later recordings.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Bruckner Anton said:


> I have a handful recordings of the concertos. Here are 3 of my favorite complete sets:
> 1. Brendel Marriner Philips
> Great sound and great performance. Moderate to fast tempos. Beautiful, sonorous, smooth string playing. The woodwinds are especially good in terms of bringing out details that are hardly noticable in a lot of recordings. For example, the theme played by orchestra in imitation in the slow movement of #23; the sections featuring woodwinds in the slow movement of #24.
> 
> One thing I don't like: Brendel does improvisation for a few places where the composer seems to left blank intentionally for the pianist. However, I would like those places to be omitted rather than to be filled with notes by the pianist (excluding the lost cadanzas).


Do you mean "Eingänge", typically lead-ins e.g. when a Rondo refrain appears again?
I think Mozart is at a stage in history when improvisatory additions were still customary in many movements in some passages and most pianists until recently have been a bit too shy about it.


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