Konzerte für Klavier und Orchester

Chronique

This group of Mozart piano concertos is a tribute to the Viennese performer Hans Kann, who was not well known outside of Austria and Japan, where he was renowned as a teacher. Appearing on the collector-oriented Preiser label in Austria, it has a booklet featuring such sentences as "Those acquainted with the politics of Vienna will realize how rare such double employment is and what it says about the teacher's qualifications." Specialized as the disc might seem, it's well worth the attention of the more generalist Mozart listener. Well in advance of nearly every other such artist, Kann was a user of a modern pianist who studied historically oriented performances with the goal of informing his own approach. The result is a modest-sized, liquid, lithe, and precise reading of the Piano Concerto No. 6 in B flat, K. 238. Where Kann really shines, however, is in the multi-keyboard concertos included on the disc, particularly the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra in E flat, K. 365. Working with younger pianists who were presumably his students, Kann crafts interpretations that seem to delve into the sources of Mozart's imagination as he manipulated the relationship between the solo instruments. The K. 365 concerto is notable for its constantly shifting degree of contrast between the two piano parts; instead of contenting himself with imitative material Mozart crafts a genuine dialogue. The differentiation between the two pianos on this recording is uncannily sharp, all without crossing the very decorous boundaries Kann has laid down for himself. This is one of the very best recordings of K. 365 on the market. The three-piano Concerto No. 7 in F, K. 242, is a less ambitious work, but it too receives a performance of the utmost clarity. Especially inasmuch as these concertos are not as often recorded as others by Mozart, this disc is well worth sampling on the part of any buyer. One flaw: given that this was a tribute recording, it might have been nice to know when and where it was made.
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