Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 27
Uchida’s remakes don’t measure up to her earlier recordings with Jeffrey Tate
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 4/2011
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 478 2596

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Cleveland Orchestra Mitsiko Uchida, Piano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 27 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Cleveland Orchestra Mitsiko Uchida, Piano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Nalen Anthoni
None of these shortcomings afflicts her playing in this concerto. It’s strong and pointed if sometimes finicky, causing, for example, the stormy middle section of the Romance to lose force. Switch to K595 and uneasiness sets in again. Uchida’s vision of the elegiac translates into a first movement of enervated gait, both poetry and motivation at a low ebb. But the Larghetto stays on course, as does the Rondo (Allegro), despite a few over-refined moments.
Options? Why not Uchida herself in her 1980s collaboration with Jeffrey Tate? His rostrum experience and fine ear for orchestral balance put Uchida at ease to give her role undivided attention. She holds the tension between the many elements of the music much more adroitly, while spacious sound, distinctive instrumental timbres and steady perspectives offer relief from this new Decca. A boxy acoustic and contrived recording (the piano keeps moving from concert hall position to listening room immediacy) isn’t in the best traditions of the house.
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