Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 27
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 10/1986
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 417 288-2DH

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Benjamin Britten, Conductor Clifford Curzon, Piano English Chamber Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 27 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Benjamin Britten, Conductor Clifford Curzon, Piano English Chamber Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Christopher Headington
These 1970 performances are today in competition with many fine subsequent accounts of Mozart concertos, if not in this particular coupling, and they certainly hold their place as interpretations. The approach to the D minor Concerto is very Sturm und Drang, and at times I found this aspect, essential though it is, a little overdone, for example in the pace of the Romanze's middle section and the rather strenuous finale. Otherwise, I enjoyed this sensitive playing, though not the over-romanticized cadenzas—nor the bassy and boomy sound that sent me to the tone controls after a while and certainly does not conform to Britten's preference for a 'slender sound' in Mozart. Even in the more serene last Concerto, K595, the musical approach is perhaps (save for the finale) rather solemn. For example, surely the opening theme of the Larghetto could be simpler: here it seems slow and portentous. I noted too a brief loss of accuracy and ensemble at the 7'18'' mark in the first movement here. Still, the catalogue is enriched by these performances.'
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.