The mantle of director/soloist sits uncomfortably on Mitsuko Uchida. The assured pianist isn’t the assured mastermind at the helm. Shared duty appears onerous in the uneasy beginning to the first movement of K466, syncopated soft notes on violins and violas loosely enunciated. There’s little expectancy in the build-up to the first forte, yet its arrival is suitably dramatic. Uchida doesn’t, however, maintain suspense; often she allows the orchestral line to go slack. Rhythmic patterns lose mobility and even become constrained, as they do in the finale.

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.