Mozart: Grand Concerts pour Le Forte-Piano

Album review

Veteran pianist Paul Badura-Skoda was ahead of the curve among mainstream artists in adopting historical instruments, and by the time of the 2006 recording of this pair of Mozart concertos he had developed an entirely distinctive approach. Badura-Skoda plays a copy of a Viennese Walter fortepiano by Americo-Czech builder Paul McNulty; it doesn't sound like a modern grand piano, but it comes closer than most other early pianos, with smooth action nicely set off against a sharply contrasting tone when the pedal is applied. The instrument's varied powers are applied to a group of Mozart interpretations that emphasize the composer's reputation as a virtuoso. Badura-Skoda favors sharply differentiated surfaces, with both the overall mood and the local shadings quite dramatically filled out. He pushes the tempo, he goes tearing across the keyboard, he imbues the slow movements with heavy emotion. That of the Piano Concerto No. 12 in E flat major, K. 414, is theorized by the pianist in his booklet notes to be an homage to Johann Christian Bach, recently deceased at the time, and indeed the performance is a convincing realization of this idea. The outer movements of both concerts are lively and even a bit hyper; buyers should sample broadly, for this is the kind of performance you'll either love or hate. The opening Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271, generally played with a relaxed, expansive style, becomes something entirely different here, something that would have seemed brilliant but careening and unsettling to a listener of Mozart's day. The French title reproduced on the cover ("avec l'accompagnement des deux Violons, Alto et Basse...") suggests that Badura-Skoda is accompanied by only one instrument per part; in fact the Czech historical-instrument ensemble Musica Florea has 19 members performing here. The balance and coordination with Badura-Skoda at the keyboard are expertly handled. Notes are in French, German, English, and Italian, but curiously the English notes are different from the others, eschewing much of the analytical material but adding historical details pertaining to how the Piano Concerto No. 9 acquired the erroneous nickname of "Jeunehomme." Perhaps the intent was to reward speakers of multiple languages with additional information!

© TiVo

Details of the original recording : 55:20 - DDD - Enregistré au Studio Domovina de Prague en septembre 2005 - Notes en français, anglais, allemand, italien