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Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 12-14 - Wallisch

Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 12-14 - Wallisch

Linn Records  CKD 424

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Chamber


Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 12-14 (Chamber versions)

Gottleib Wallisch
Piatti Quartet


The combination of string quartet and solo piano, strikingly enhances the intricacies of Mozart's string writing and encourages immediate interaction among the five musicians. Gottlieb Wallisch and the Piatti Quartet performed this repertoire to packed audiences at various venues and festivals across the UK in the summer and autumn of 2011.

'Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 12, 13 & 14, The Chamber Version' is a brilliant debut from the young quartet and a welcome addition to Gottlieb's already impressive Mozart discography.

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Review by John Broggio - August 30, 2013

Another fine disc by the unashamedly non-HIP Wallisch.

Here Wallisch tackles Mozart concertos but in their less familiar piano plus string quartet guise. Mozart: Piano Concertos 11 & 12 - Fialkowska, Chamber Players of Canada & Mozart - Piano Concertos 11-13 - Věrnerová-Pechočová, Pražák Quartet, Nejtek apply a similar treatment (although latter also bolster textures with a double bass) and each show how well these works stand up to being performed without a full orchestra. In K. 414, Wallisch is somewhat more respectful than Brautigam (Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol 01 - Brautigam, Willens) to the letter of the score but when one hears the embellishments of Brautigam and, in particular, the less musically daring interpretation of the cadenzas, some may well feel that the spirit of the score is better reflected by Brautigam. The Piatti Quartet play with a similar faithfulness to the letter of the score and match Wallisch well in their informed choices not to follow HIP. Even though there are only four voices, the "orchestral" tutti passages in the slow movement rarely, if ever, have one missing the extra textures of a larger body of strings or the woodwind that are not present here. The performances here and on Mozart: Piano Concertos 11 & 12 - Fialkowska, Chamber Players of Canada are equally persuasive; Fialkowska has a double bass which makes for firmer bass lines and it is in tutti passages of the outer movements where some may think the extra instrument tells in Fialkowska's favour.

Similar reflections occur in the performance of K. 415 but here Wallisch is up against stiff competition from both Helmchen (Mozart: Piano Concertos 13 & 24 - Helmchen, Nikolic) and Zacharias (Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol 7 - Zacharias) on modern pianos although the other pianists are accompanied by full orchestras. Try as the Piatti's might, there is no pretending that the martial tutti's of the opening movement are a pale imitation in their hands admirable though the performance is from both them and Wallisch. Wallisch is in particularly fine form here and the care he invests in accompanying figuration (e.g. half way through the first movement) is a delight, no matter HIP purist the listener. And then it happens, at about 8'10, a presumably different take is spliced in for there is a noticeable shift in the tempo - not good from any perspective & a real shame. There's no denying the rest of this performance is blemish free but one cannot imagine many wanting to be able to play almost all the disc.

The performance of K. 449 is perhaps the best of all but here despite the near total unanimity of approach from all 5 players, this far more mature work (despite only being one year later than the others) has a far better orchestration and so the use of quartet only is not as refreshing a change as it was in the other concertos. A shame that this performance (and the most of the rest of the disc) is so badly let down by one slip in K. 415.

The sound is very good but frankly should not sway anyone one way or another. The performance is impossible to rate fairly.

Very regretfully, not recommended.

Copyright © 2013 John Broggio and HRAudio.net

Sonics (Multichannel):

stars