As so often, for all his continuing qualities of freshness and imagination as a Mozart interpreter, Barenboim is here the victim of his own earlier success. Go to the same three early concertos in his complete EMI cycle – coupled as here in the complete boxed set, but not available separately – and you find performances even fresher and more resilient, more spontaneous-sounding, with rhythms sprung even more winningly, matched by the fresh, alert playing of the ECO of the 1960s, with its superb team of wind players. The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic is often a degree more refined, but it is consistently cooler, and not individual enough to match Barenboim’s distinctive playing. The recording quality heightens the contrast, for though the new Teldec digital recording has a wider frequency range, it has less body, less immediacy, less presence, with the sound of the Berlin Philharmonic set at a slight distance, paradoxically giving the (no doubt accurate), impression of a larger body than the ECO.
All told, it is hard to escape the impression of performances and interpretations less youthful in their manners. Not that this comparison should prevent anyone from investigating this disc if they fancy the coupling. Barenboim’s articulation remains phenomenal, his phrasing always individual and alert, and one important interpretative point – the more flowing speeds he adopts in slow movements – brings a clear gain. This and his phrasing reflect latter-day taste in Mozart performance, even if there are few other signs of period influence. The ever-reliable Ashkenazy offers the same coupling on a mid-price Decca issue in full-bodied analogue sound.'