Berlin Philharmonic Orch Archive

MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24; Piano Concerto No. 8, Piano Sonata No. 11; Fantasia – Wilhelm Kempff – Praga Digitals

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 21, 2017 | Classical Reissue Reviews

The Kempff Mozart recordings combine an elastic gravity with refined delicacy.  MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24 in c minor, K. 491; Piano Concerto No. 8 in C Major, K. 246; Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331; Fantasia in d minor, K. 397 – Wilhelm Kempff, piano – Bamberg Sym. Orch. (K. 491)/ Berlin Philharmonic Orch./ Ferdinand Leitner – Praga Digitals PRD 250 359, 79:57 (10/7/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: Praga gathers recordings by the great German piano master Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) recorded 1960-1962, of which the two works set in a minor key point to Mozart’s affinities with a burgeoning Romanticism. A case in point arises in the January 1961 reading of the unfinished 1782 Fantasia in d minor, K. 397, whose striking inwardness (Lento) wants to linger in an exalted space, but whose contrasting impulsiveness creates a palpable tension. Suddenly, in the last pages, a galant music-box sensibility dispels the clouds of doubt, although the authenticity of the conclusion remains questionable. Kempff allots to this rich piece his special presence. The 1786 Concerto No. 24 in c minor seems to be having a feast of recorded attention lavished upon it: the present performance from Bamberg […]