Mozart: Piano Concertos n°9 K.271 & n°21 K.467

Album review

For her third album of Mozart's piano concertos on Decca, performed live with the Cleveland Orchestra, Mitsuko Uchida conducts from the keyboard and delivers her characteristic style of playing that is both compelling and revelatory. Eschewing the surface patina of period performance, Uchida plays a modern Steinway, and the orchestra plays with a fully modern sound. Yet the issue of authentic Classical style falls by the wayside when Uchida gives the music its voice through her subtle interpretations and refined execution. Whether one prefers historic or modern methods, Uchida's musicality transcends such technical matters, and her Mozart springs from her deeply personal interaction with the scores. This CD is part of Uchida's second Mozart concerto cycle, revisiting music she had recorded with Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra in the 1980s and 1990s on Philips. While that studio set is judged by many as one of the finest available, Uchida's fans will still be interested to have her live recordings for their spontaneity and presence. The Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, "Jeunehomme," and the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (nicknamed "Elvira Madigan" after the Swedish film) are among Mozart's most popular piano concertos, so newcomers to his music would do well to give this disc a try, while connoisseurs will acquire it as a matter of course.

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