The Classic Sound - Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 23, K488 & No. 24, K491

Sir Clifford Curzon (1907–1982) was celebrated as a major pianist in his day, but his reputation seems to have been partly erased by time. Maybe his style, elegant and subtle, isn’t what listeners want now. It lacks the drama and “personality” of Richter or the romanticism of Rubinstein (both of whom I enjoy in their own ways); Curzon hears the music of distant stars and conveys it.The recordings on this disc, from 1967, are idiosyncratically glorious. Curzon doesn’t land on stage with guns blazing. He asks that you tilt your head a little to receive the language of Mozart’s muse and participate in it. The Innigkeit is the message.Concerto no. 23, K. 488, is one of Mozart’s sunnier essays in the form. The soloist outpictures its mood and without obvious striving, inhabits its spirit. The adagio is pure poetry. I could listen to it every day.The keyboard performance of the other piece on the disc, Concerto no. 24, K. 491, shares many of the same graces. It doesn’t come off quite as well, though. In this more “serious” work, Curzon’s glowing understatement falls a little short of expressing its full spectrum. For all that, hearing it is a marvelous experience.I do not belong to the semi-cult around István Kertész, which I think is partly down to his tragic accidental death. But his conducting here eminently complements Curzon’s style. The LSO is expressive without over-emphasis and — no surprise — plays satisfyingly.Of course these two concertos have been recorded many times, and of those I’ve heard I can’t single out any as the best, a fool’s mission in any case. But I do encourage listeners who are open-minded about interpretation to check out this disc.

This album clashes inevitably head-on against one of the truly miraculous performances ever made in a recording studio. This is Kempff and Leitner with the Bamberg Symphony for DG, just a couple of years earlier. Far be it from me to call that recording "definitive", it would be a contradiction in terms. But "miraculous" meets the situation well. Kempff plays the work with such ease, grace and perfection that one can hardly think of a bar that is not infused with the authentic Mozartean spirit. It is music making of the rarest calibre, utterly natural and eschewing all point making. The fact that modern instruments were used has no bearing on the matter. The playing is so commanding, and the orchestral contribution so discretely attuned to the style that questions of style become irrelevancies. Moreover, the wide apart moods of the concertos are caught with consummate mastery, no. 23 inimitably songful and buoyant, no. 24 stern and tragic; and as far as the slow movement of the latter is concerned, I have yet to hear another pianist who can "speak" on the piano with the same unaffected, yet deeply touching simplicity.Such gifts are too rare to expect them even once, let alone twice. Curzon is a fine and understanding Mozartean. He commands a pearly delivery that leaves little to be desired. But the ultimate Mozartean simplicity escapes him - as indeed it does the conductor who shows a tendency to press matters, to squeeze more dramatic juice out of the score than a pre-Beethoven score could or should. Compare the opening of no. 24: Here Leitner finds the perfect balance for the emotional menace that is held in check by the classical form, but would create turbulence in a romantic score. Kertesz, however, creates a highly charged atmosphere with powerful gestures - looking far ahead to Beethoven and almost leaving the pianist's entry as an anticlimactic moment (in the sense that the pianist now has to build up momentum a second time). In no. 23 one could hardly accuse Kertesz of being overly songful or gracious. In contrast, Curzon does his best in that regard, and his delightful scales and sensitive handling of the reflective episode make one wish that he could have found a more congenial partner - one who might have been genuinely attuned to his Mozartean manner. As it is the album has to yield first place, though it is by no means an account that falls below a high level of excellence. But the absence of magic tells in the long run. When it is there for the asking from Kempff, it is difficult to rouse greater enthusiasm than this.

... Curzon's live BBC #24 with Bernard Haitink I find superior both to thisKertesz version and Curzon's even better version with Rafael Kubelik/BRSO/Audite.Perhaps the live occasion helped, but Curzon sounds livelier, more passionate and quicker with Haitink than with Kertesz. This is by no means meantto denigrate Curzon's two five star Mozart concerto discs with Kubelik (21+ 24and 23+27, or his five star disc with George Szell/VPO of the concerti 23 and 27.As usual, Curzon understands the ambiguity of both the final two movements of #23: sadnesscontending with gaiety// the concerto #27. However his #24 here is a bit tamer thanthe concerto requires and which Curzon suppies with Haitink/BBC.Selected peers (five apiece only) #23-Frager/Tchkarov/Vivace (my favorite); Annie Fischer/Boult/EMI; Pollini/Bohm/DG; Moravec/Vlach/Supraphon; Haebler/Rowicki/Philps #24-Foldes/Leitner/BPO/You Tube; Haskil/Markevitch/Philips; Brendel/Marriner/ Philips; Larrocha/Davis/RCA; Annie Fischer/Kurtz/EMI

Vintage Mozart but with more than adequate recording quality. The piano sound in particular seems very natural and the playing throughout is a delight, all at a bargain price.

どちらの曲も、甲乙つけ難い出来の良さです。オーケストラとの総合評価ならば、これ以上の演奏は、そうザラにはない。晩年のカーゾンは、どれも良いから当然の出来だが、とにかくケルテスの指揮が素晴らしい…これだけスケールの大きな演奏でありながらモーツァルトを一歩も踏み外してはいない。圧倒的であり、また高貴なモーツァルトである。