Mozart
Piano Concertos Nos 26 & 27; Overtures (Vol. 8)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano); Manchester Camerata/Gábor Takács-Nagy
Chandos CHAN20246 75:26 mins
Three opera overtures, two piano concertos, one joyful album: that’s what you’ll get from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s latest Mozart recording. It’s the eighth in a series that’s been garlanded with five-star reviews – and this one deserves another, for its zest and style. Honours go first to the livewire Manchester Camerata and its conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy for the overtures, each of which leaves you wanting to hear the whole opera. The wind playing in the Così fan tutte overture is particularly nifty, while the trombones bring stately nobility to The Magic Flute’s opener. And the sense of anticipation, with scurrying strings, for La Clemenza di Tito is scintillating.
Yet the main event here isn’t an opera, of course, even if Mozart did bring vocal expressivity and theatrical flair into his piano concertos. Both Nos 26 and 27 date from his final years (as do the overtures). Bavouzet writes in a performer’s note that for a long time he found No. 26 only of modest interest, but his view shifted as a result of this recording. ‘I now regard it as among Mozart’s greatest achievements,’ he writes. What sets this version apart from others is Bavouzet’s elaboration of the left-hand part, left fairly empty in the original manuscript. There are some wonderful moments in the opening Allegro where it sounds as if Mozart has gone into a Bachian reverie. No. 27 breathes Mozartian beauty through and through, whether in the serene melodies of the Allegro, the simplicity of the Larghetto or the sprightly charm of the finale. Rebecca Franks
