I’m surprised the market
can cope with yet another Mozart concerto
disc. I say "yet another"
despite, myself, enjoying an insatiable
appetite for this sublime music, and
for new recordings of it. But even I
have to admit that many recent issues
fit comfortably into the same pigeon-hole
of well-recorded, stylish, modern-instrument
performances, and separating the many
virtues of one from the many virtues
of another is becoming increasingly
difficult. Who would dare to put Perahia,
Schiff, Brendel, Uchida and Goode into
some sort of batting order?
This disc starts off
on the right foot by boasting Mackerras
and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra,
who also accompany Brendel in his latest
series on Philips. Forced into a corner,
I would dare to suggest that, household
name though Brendel is and O’Conor isn’t,
O’Conor’s playing is every bit Brendel’s
equal. Mackerras’s accompaniments, on
the other hand, are marginally
more precise and co-operative for Brendel
than for O’Conor, with perhaps even
better playing from the all-important
orchestral soloists.
It seems to me that
O’Conor has every one of the long list
of necessaries for Mozart playing. His
fingerwork is crystal clear, his left
hand - unusually, even among great players
- every bit as much as his right. His
phrasing is immaculate - always agreeably
articulated and shaped, never overstated,
and with a strong sense of line. He
shows a commendable awareness of both
texture - where what he’s playing matters
more or less than what’s in the orchestra
- and structure where something deserves
to be highlighted or withheld for best
long-term impact. And he has a perfect
grasp of idiom.
So there’s little here
which could possibly offend. Except,
perhaps, the closing bars of that most
special of Mozart slow movements, the
F sharp minor Adagio - the only music
Mozart ever wrote in this key - of the
K488 Concerto. This is one of those
places where the ‘information’ Mozart
gives us is bafflingly sparse. One side
of the argument says this exemplifies
the inspired simplicity of Mozart at
his greatest and, like a priceless museum
exhibit, must not be touched on any
account. The opposite point of view
insists that Mozart would have decorated
such lines, pointing to various comparable
instances where (perhaps with more time
on his hands, or because someone other
himself might have been playing it)
he fills out such lines with subtle
ornamentation. Of course even those
who belong to the latter school tread
carefully, lest they be caught out.
But O’Conor goes for it! I’d say he’s
almost completely convincing, but you
may not care for it!
The F major Concerto
is the least often played of the six
1784 concertos, but delightful from
first bar to last, with gorgeous dialogues
in the slow movement, and invigorating
counterpoint in the Rondo finale. And
it’s good to have an agreeably masculine
performance of the one-off A major Rondo
- slightly out of chronological and
musical context - despite following
the A major Concerto - but none the
worse for that.
Peter J Lawson
O’Conor - a perfect grasp of idiom.
... see Full Review
John O’Conor (piano) 
