Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 271 & 456

Album Description

With this latest addition to the complete Mozart keyboard concertos, music lovers finally have a historically informed interpretation - one that goes beyond mere historical curiosity. Born in South Africa and now an Australian, Kristian Bezuidenhout is a specialist in historical musical practice, but above all, he is a musician who finds his truest form of expression in the pianoforte.

Playing on a replica of a Viennese Walter & Sohn instrument from 1805 (which was built identically two hundred years later by Paul McNulty), Kristian Bezuidenhout extracts an almost carnal sound from the keys, with song-like phrasing and attacks that render the long Mozartian phrases perfectly legible. This sparkling interpretation with lively tempos would undoubtedly have pleased Mozart himself, who always wanted his music to be played as quickly as possible. A special mention must go to the exceptional instrumental quality of the Freiburger Barockorchester, in particular, their exquisite wind and string sections.

This new album is devoted to the famous Concerto No. 9 in E flat major (also known as “Jeunehomme” or “Jenamy concerto”). It is a profoundly original work which contains an already-romantic 'Andantino' and a French-style 'Finale' (in which a nostalgic minuet suddenly interrupts the vivacity). Concerto No. 18 in B flat major—composed for a blind young virtuoso who was to play it in Paris—is more classical in style and features a slow movement, 'Andante un poco sostenuto', written in a minor key in much the same way as Concerto No. 9. As is often the case with Mozart, good humour is tinged with a modest and pervasive melancholy that is undoubtedly present if you know how to read between the lines. © François Hudry/Qobuz