If there is any justice in the world, this will continue through the whole series.
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K. 414; No. 17 in G, K. 453 – Alfred Brendel, p./ Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/ Neville Marriner – Pentatone multichannel (4.0) SACD PTC 5816 236, 55:47 [Distr. by Naxos] *****:
Anyone who knows the series of piano concertos of Mozart with Brendel and Marriner knows of its importance and significance. Few pairings of conductor and pianist have so successfully navigated Mozart’s supreme masterpieces with such panache and style, and when these were released both critical opinion and public acclaim merged as if one voice to proclaim them the most sensational recorded issuances of these works ever accomplished. They were not entirely complete—and this is a shame. But the greats and almost-greats were, making them mandatory acquisitions. This release, one in Pentatone’s series dedicated to reissues of recordings originally made in four-channel surround sound for quadraphonics, is a real beauty, and self-recommending, one of two the company has released so far. One hopes for a complete traversal of all the Phillips Brendel Mozart concertos, but I have no idea if this is in the offing or not.
The silky, glistening sound of Marriner’s Academy strings have never sounded better, matched only by the pungent, gloriously colorful woodwinds, surely one of the contributing reasons to this disc’s excellence. Brendel, masterly Mozartian if ever there was one, makes no pretenses to profundity, simply engaging Mozart’s notes with a simplicity of ease and almost carefree affection in his ability to make the music his own. Definitely a keeper, even if you already have it in another format – hear it as it was meant to be heard. [I think we’ve found very little difference between the 4.0 channel and the 5.0 channel SACDs…Ed.]
—Steven Ritter
