Great Collection Misleading Title
It might not be as complete as desired but this is still a wonderful collection.
Composer: Mozart
Repertoire: The Great Concertos for Piano
Artists: Maria João Pires (piano), Orchestre de la Fondation Gulbenkian de Lisbonne/Guschlbauer, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne/Jordan
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Instrumental
Label: Warner Classics & Jazz 2564 69686-9
A collection that fails to include the three masterpieces K482 in E flat, K491 in C minor and K503 in C does not justify such a comprehensive title as ‘The Great Concertos’. That said, this five-disc set of recordings from the 1970s will afford endless pleasure. It starts with the groundbreaking K271 in E flat and ends with the valedictory-seeming K595 in B flat. The conductors set ideal speeds and the orchestral playing is crisp and stylish. Pires has a wonderful sense of line, her elegant phrasing and limpid tone being an ever-present feature of these performances. A pity that she commits the solecism of putting Mozart’s cadenza for K451 into the ‘Coronation’ Concerto.
