This is a very good
collection of Mozart’s piano concertante
works in enthusiastic and well accomplished
performances recorded live by Canadian
Broadcasting. The dominant pianist is
the highly accomplished Jon Kimura Parker
who can be heard performing the Barber
concerto on Telarc CD-80632 (reviewed)
but I must also mention brother
James who I recently heard with the
"Gryphon Trio" in a collection
of Mozart piano trios reviewed in April:
Analekta AN 2 9827-8. Cousin
Ian Parker also seems to be highly promising
from what I’ve gleaned from the web.
Piano Concerto No.
21 is among the best known of Mozart’s
concertos and the slow movement, used
in a film, is often played as a torso.
This is a fine performance and I sensed
real musicianship and understanding
of the score. The cadenza in the first
movement will make you smile, borrowing
as it does the beginning of one of Mozart’s
famous late symphonies, Number 40. I
thought this was great as a one-off
although I might not want it as my only
rendition. The slow movement comes off
well, without lapsing into wallowing
sentimentality. A fine rendition of
the Allegro vivace assai brings the
concerto to a splendid ending and deserved
applause.
There are many fine
performances in the past from Lipatti
through Barenboim to Schiff, not forgetting
Anda; I’m not going to choose between
them but this is a good recording and
will be returned to, bearing in mind
the first movement cadenza.
Concerto for Three
Pianos is called the "Lodron"
as it was written to a Countess of that
name and her two daughters. This results
in the third piano player having a fairly
easy task. Mozart also transposed this
piece for two pianos in a version which
he and his sister performed. This is
early Mozart and the kind of work I
only want to hear occasionally. Here
the live context works to the benefit
of all concerned. The orchestra is of
a high standard and the players achieve
a real feeling of teamwork. Bravo to
all concerned.
The Concerto for Two
Pianos will always be associated with
Christopher Nupen’s film "Double
Concerto" from the days of black
and white TV and the marvelous coupling
of Barenboim and Ashkenazy. Sadly that
performance was never released commercially
but there has been a great recording
from Emil and Elena Gilels under Karl
Bohm (DG 4636522) which I’ve returned
to many times over the past 18 years.
This is a lovely piece composed about
the same time as the "Sinfonia
Concertante" and like that splendid
work Mozart makes brilliant use of the
interplay between the two instruments.
The final movement contains one of those
melodies that I find difficult not to
sing along to; fortunately this is not
on the recording! I really thought this
was a very good performance and is the
highlight of the disc. What a night
the people in Vancouver had this January
and credit to the engineers for capturing
the recording.
The Mozart Anniversary
year will bring many reissues and new
releases but this will surely be regarded
as a highlight.
David R Dunsmore
Jon Kimura Parker (piano) (performs his own
cadenzas) 
