Mozart performed the K466 Concerto at the Mehlgrube Casino on February 11, 1785. It is hard to imagine what the Viennese made of its dark, brooding D minor opening. Piotr Anderszewski superbly captures the uneasy mingling of melancholic passion and revolutionary fervour. This dynamic and impressively balanced performance is full of powerful arguments and emotional pressure.

Anderszewski’s well proportioned playing is in equal partnership with the SCO (perhaps the cohesive blend is a benefit of Anderszewski’s directing from the keyboard). The central Romanze flows unhindered by saccharine sweetness, and the finale is lean and muscular, though lacking nothing in gracefulness.

Mozart is known to have played the Concerto No 17 in a concert on February 13, 1785 (the occasion also featured performances by the Italian soprano Luisa Laschi, for whom Mozart composed the role of Countess Almaviva in Figaro). However, the concerto was actually composed for the distinguished pianist Barbara Ployer, who played it on June 13, 1784, in a relative’s home on the outskirts of Vienna. Anderszewski’s navigation of the piano is articulate, bold and beautiful. His direction is admirably paced, although one imagines that these transparent textures have benefited from the orchestra’s lessons in period style from Sir Charles Mackerras: clean-toned strings, precise timpani and brass, and eloquent woodwind flourishes contribute plenty to this attractive disc.