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Joan Records

This fourth volume in the Brilliant Classics complete Mozart edition includes the 27 piano concertos and several other works for piano and orchestra: concertos for two or three pianos and rondos for piano and orchestra. It also includes some works by C. P. E. Bach, Mozart’s great friend and a major influence on his work.

Of Mozart’s 27 piano concertos, some of them stand out as masterpieces - especially the later ones. But others, the earliest ones, are little more than showpieces for the young virtuoso pianist on tour of Europe. Some of them are merely arrangements of music by other composers. Yet, in spite of their simplicity, especially in the orchestral scoring, ever the earliest concertos bear witness to Mozart’s genius.

The ninth concerto in E flat major, the "Jeunehomme" concerto, often considered Mozart’s "musical coming of age", was written for a French virtuoso keyboard player named Mademoiselle Jeunehomme. Written during her visit in Salzburg, when Mozart was 25, this concerto has some brilliant passages for piano in the second movement. This rapid Andantino shows a pianist searching to stand out by playing blistering runs all across the keyboard. But Mozart does not write mere virtuoso music here. The melodies are also brilliant, and, while the piano clearly outshines the orchestra, the accompanying instruments are not left behind.

In the late concertos, such as No. 25 in C major, where Mozart wrote the orchestral accompaniment in a very symphonic style, the orchestra is forceful and strong. The piano almost takes back seat in the long opening movement, Allegro maestoso, but comes into its own in the final Allegretto, with some playful melodies very well played by Derek Han.

The more playful early concertos come across very well. While the orchestral accompaniment is not as elaborate, the piano parts focus on virtuosity rather than melody. Han shows he is a fine pianist is both of these registers.

The sound is slightly flat - in the orchestra passages it tends to lack transparency. But the piano is generally recorded well, and is only occasionally overwhelmed by the orchestra; this occurs in some of the densest passages.

There is an added "bonus" - the first disc in the set contains three early concertos, arrangements of works by Johann Christian Bach, for harpsichord, 2 violins and basso continuo. While merely arrangements, these works give a glimpse of how Mozart’s music sounds on the harpsichord. This disc also contains three keyboard sonatas by Johann Christian Bach played on the clavichord, which are delightful works.

One general criticism of this set is the grouping of the concertos on the different CDs. The first eight discs, which contain the concertos, have no logical grouping, other than, perhaps, the need to fit them on the discs economically. This means that on one disc you find concertos no. 21, 1 and 25. It would perhaps be more interesting to hear the concertos in the order they were written, or, at least, grouped somewhat by period. This is not an absolute problem when listening to recordings of just a few of the concertos, but, with a complete set, it would make a bit more sense.

Once again, Brilliant Classics comes up with a very good set of Mozart’s works. While not perfect, these performances and recordings are fine. The budget price is an additional incentive for those interested in discovering all of Mozart’s works for piano and orchestra.

Kirk McElhearn

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