COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: DG Masters
WORKS: Piano Concerto No 16 in D, K451; Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
PERFORMER: Rudolf Serkin (piano); CO of Europe, LSO/Claudio Abbado
CATALOGUE NO: 445 597-2 1997/82
K451 is among the most neglected of Mozart’s mature concertos – a piece, as he said, ‘to make the player sweat’. Rudolf Serkin was in his mid-eighties when this previously unreleased recording was made, and his frailty is evident. It’s a touching performance, but there are times when you have to strain to hear the piano. No such reservations in the famous D minor Concerto – not, perhaps, the most impassioned account you could imagine, but one that Serkin admirers will not want to miss. Misha Donat
Mozart: Piano Concerto No 16 in D, K451; Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
K451 is among the most neglected of Mozart’s mature concertos – a piece, as he said, ‘to make the player sweat’. Rudolf Serkin was in his mid-eighties when this previously unreleased recording was made, and his frailty is evident. It’s a touching performance, but there are times when you have to strain to hear the piano. No such reservations in the famous D minor Concerto – not, perhaps, the most impassioned account you could imagine, but one that Serkin admirers will not want to miss. Misha Donat
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm