Top 10 recent Mozart recordings
Gramophone
Thursday, July 13, 2017
A selection of the finest Mozart recordings of the last two years
Today's musicians continue to find new ways of interpreting Mozart's music, of making it their own. The recordings below represent some of the finest Mozart recordings of the last two years, all of them were Editor's Choice recommendations in Gramophone and many were shortlisted for Gramophone Awards.
Mozart Violin Sonatas, Vol 3
Alina Ibragimova vn Cédric Tiberghien pf
Hyperion
'Tiberghien and Ibragimova come close to my ideal Mozartian duo, in performances that further whet the appetite for the rest of the series.' Read review
Mozart Mass in C minor
Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki
BIS
'Period-instrument C minor Masses get better and better. The bar was set in the mid 1980s by Gardiner and Hogwood, then raised in the new millennium by the likes of McCreesh, Krivine and Langrée. This new recording from Japan, which joins Suzuki’s scholarly and startling Requiem, is fully worthy to join them...' Read review
Mozart Piano Concertos K413-415
Kristian Bezuidenhout pf Freiburg Baroque Orchestra / Gottfried von der Goltz
Harmonia Mundi
'Mozart encoded his memorial to JC Bach in the slow movement of K414 and Bezuidenhout plays this with a touching simplicity; elsewhere he is superbly responsive to the music’s high spirits and to the possibilities inherent in these scores...' Read review
Mozart Violin Sonatas, Vol 2
Alina Ibragimova vn Cédric Tiberghien pf
Hyperion
'It would be hard to imagine more persuasive performances than we have here from the ever-rewarding Tiberghien-Ibragimova duo...' Read review
Mozart Double Concertos
Lucas Jussen pf Arthur Jussen pf Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Neville Marriner
DG
‘Those moments where the two pianos toss a motif between each other sound for all the world like a single instrument. And each knows when to fine his tone down to pianissimo to let the other have his moment in the spotlight...' Read review
Mozart Il re pastore
Classical Opera / Ian Page
Signum
'Ian Page’s unobtrusive pacing of the pastoral mini-drama and sage weighting of orchestrally accompanied recitatives pull the listener along gently, and each of Mozart’s perfectly etched ritornellos is articulated with impeccable balance and shape...' Read review
Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 20 & 25
Martha Argerich pf Orchestra Mozart / Claudio Abbado
(DG)
'Her microscopic alterations of touch make even the most mundane run of semiquavers dance and sing.' Read review
Mozart Piano Sonatas, Vol 1
Christian Blackshaw pf
(Wigmore Hall Live)
'Blackshaw’s mindful yet spontaneous virtuosity and utterly alive music-making completely disarmed my scepticism.' Read review
Mozart Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin Nos 27, 32 & 35
Christian Tetzlaff vn Lars Vogt pf
(Ondine)
'Two musicians absolutely at the top of their game.' Read review
DVD/blu-ray
Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Sols; Chorus of Dutch National Opera Netherlands Chamber Orchestra / Marc Albrecht
(Opus Arte)
'A ‘people’s Magic Flute’ is how critic Mike Ashman describes this finely performed take on Mozart’s opera.' Read review