Here’s a genuinely breathless, entirely ecstatic excursion into early Mozart piano concertos, played by a thoroughly homogeneous ensemble and a gifted pianist, Greilsammer, who plies his own cadenzas, by the way, on a Hamburg Steinway. That for the B-flat Concerto will endure as a real contribution to the genre. Mozart learned his craft in piano concertos from J. C. Bach, and his early efforts adapted Bach’s own compositions with added continuo. The D Major Concerto, composed in Mozart’s seventeenth year, exhibits much of Mozart’s audaciously new spirit, a combination of the Mannheim and “emotional” (empfindsamkeit) styles. The Andante possesses a heightened sense of color, more so than any of Mozart’s prior efforts in the medium. The final Allegro is all pomp, charm, and scintillating speed. The orchestra offers harmonies and instrumental timbres that point to Weber and Chopin. Suedama Ensemble (25 instrumentalists) plays a combination of authentic and modern instruments, making for a hybrid sound of eerie power.
The B-flat Concerto extends Mozart’s sparkling, galant and vocal wit, here in the form of running parlando commentary from the keyboard part. Sudden bursts of dynamic colors, sforzato, illuminate the bravura landscape. Ornaments in the Allegro aperto have become integral to the melodic declamations. A joie de vivre permeates every bar of music, the rhythmic give-and-take of piano and orchestra has become an amiable struggle between equal parts. The beauties and harmonic subtlety of the Andante un poco adagio points both to Rossini and to the later C Major Concerto, K. 467. The stately Rondeau bubbles with Francophile wit and Italian arias by way of Vienna. The so-called Luetzow Concerto, K. 246, proceeds along similar lines as the K. 238, ceremonial and bravura at once. Greilsammer injects his relentless brio into every measure of this jovial music. Recorded 17-18 September 2005 at Sony Music Studios, this album belongs on any Mozartean’s record shelf, another entry to be added to our Best of the Year list.
— Gary Lemco
