Mozart - Complete Piano Variations

Ronald Brautigam: fortepiano

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 835 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 342 mb
Scans (English notes) @ 300dpi = 23 mb

Total playing time: 60:37 + 63:07 + 61:37 + 61:21

Recorded: August 1997, Länna Church, Sweden

Released: 2001, BIS-CD-1266/1267

Track listing:
CD 1
1. 12 Variations In C Major On "Ah, Vous Dirai-Je Maman"
2. 8 Variations In G-Major On "Laat Ons Juichen, Batavieren!" (Christian Ernst Graaf)
3. 12 Variations In B-Flat Major On An Allegretto
4. 12 Variations In E-Flat Major On "La Belle Françoise"
5. 6 Variations In F Major On "Salve Tu, Domine" (From Paisello, I Filosofi Immaginarii)
6. Praeludium (Modulating F Major - E Minor)
7. Rondo In A Minor

CD 2
1. 10 Variations En G Majeur
2. Ouverture : Ouverture
3. Ouverture : Allemande
4. Ouverture : Courante
5. Kleiner Trauermarch In E-Moll: Marche Funebre Del Sig.R Maestro Contrapunto
6. Acht Variationen In F-Dur
7. Zwölf Variationen In C-Dur
8. Clavierstück In F-Dur
9. Fantastic Fragment In D-Moll

CD 3
1. 8 Variations in F major on 'Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding', K.613
2. Praludium in C major, K.284a
3. Praludium (Fantasie) und Fuge in C major, K.394 - I. Prelude
4. Praludium (Fantasie) und Fuge in C major, K.394 - II. Fugue
5. 12 Variations in E-flat major on a Romance 'Je suis Lindor', K.354
6. Gigue in G major, K.574
7. Adagio in B minor, K.540

CD 4
1. Neun Variationed in D-Dur, K.573
2. Sechs Variationed in G-Dur, K.180
3. Neun Variationed in C-Dur, K.264
4. Thema in F-Dur mit funf Variationen, K.Anh 138a
5. Sieben Variationed in D-Dur, K.25
6. Zwei Variationed in A-Dur, K.460
7. Rondo in D-Dur, K.485

Reviews:
Classicstoday
A signpost reading "Caution: Genius at Play" should mark each and every set of keyboard variations penned by Mozart. The variation form is where Mozart didn't compose so much as he jammed, riffed, and allowed his powdered wig to all hang out in between big projects like operas and concertos. Mozart probably improvised some of these works before setting them to paper, and they best communicate when played in an unfettered, spontaneous manner. The fluency of Mozart's ideas and the beauty and logic inherent in the piano writing has to come across without the pianist sounding as if he or she has practiced the tricky passages a thousand times. Even more than in his excellent Mozart sonata cycle for BIS, Ronald Brautigam's tempos feel just right, whether adrenaline supplements seem to be fueling the pianist's potent left hand in the C major Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je Maman" and E-flat major set on "La belle Françoise", or the delightful, show-offy sections of the "Je Suis Landor" Variations K. 354.

Other significant works sprinkled among the variation sets include Eine Kleine Gigue (its dizzying metric displacements tossed off with lightness and glee), a flexible and refreshingly unsolemn B minor Adagio, the perky D major Rondo, and a graceful and supple rendition of the underrated French Overture K. 399, with its harmonically sophisticated Allemande. In a handful of pieces like the A minor Rondo, I feel that Brautigam's little holdbacks and feminine endings are a bit precious, studied, and ultimately predictable. However, that hardly detracts from the collection's overall success. Once again Brautigam uses a Paul McNulty fortepiano (modeled after an Anton-Gabriel Walter instrument circa 1795). Unlike many fortepianos, it doesn't boast pronounced timbral differences from one register to another, but most of the time the soft pedal produces a delicate lute-like sonority that greatly contrasts to the instrument's tangy brightness. With BIS selling these four discs at the price of two, how can you go wrong?

Musicweb
Brautigam has already recorded the complete Mozart sonatas (BIS-CD-835/837) and, as you can see, although this is called "Complete Piano Variations" it actually slips in along the way (the discs are arranged in listenable sequences, not as above) most but not all of the miscellaneous pieces. I find this a little strange. Having got this far Brautigam presumably wishes to finish recording all Mozart’s piano music and the pieces left over – a handful of sonata allegros, a few minuets and a small number of odds and ends – hardly amount to a full CD (it would be churlish, when this box is being offered at 4 CDs for the price of 2, to suggest that there might have been room for them here, for the timings are not all that long). So why not finish the job then and there?

Compared with most recordings of the variations, this includes K. Anh. 138a, usually known as part of the Sonata K. 547a (but not included in Brautigam’s sonata recordings). The very informative booklet notes go into this in some detail, but not so much as to explain why my Peters edition has an additional variation and a coda not played here.

The instrument used was made in 1992 by Paul McNulty in Amsterdam, following a model of Anton Gabriel Walter of c. 1795. There are times when listening to a fortepiano provokes the irreverent consideration that, were I to record a programme on my auntie’s old upright and palm it off as a fortepiano, no one would know the difference. I think it is the richness of the harmonics which proclaim the present as an instrument of very high quality (and it responds to recording in a church as pianos almost never do). The many, many brilliant pieces here have a really exciting sound, with something of a harpsichord ping to the lower register, tempered with sweetness in the upper notes. Listen to the two presto sections in the D minor Fantasia where rapid scales cover the whole range of the keyboard to hear what a splendidly voiced instrument this is (and what a splendidly even touch Brautigam has). My notes are full of comments such as "a splendid display", so once for all I’ll quote K. 613 as a set of variations which shows pianist and instrument at their full-blooded best. (Note also the covered tone obtained for the minor-key variation). No less effective are the more delicate, musical-box sonorities of K. 573, while the chords of the funeral march for Sig. Maestro Contrapunto are strikingly rich without heaviness.

If I now have to make a few reservations, it should be remembered that most of the music here is of a brilliant, virtuosic nature and my reservations therefore regard a minority of the pieces.

Where grace is called for, as in the last part of the D minor fantasia or the D major rondo, Brautigam remains obstinately firm toned and rather heavy. By the same token K. 455 is somewhat perfunctory. One of the advantages of the fortepiano over the piano is supposed to be that chords from the middle register down don’t sound clumpy. Unfortunately the accompaniment to the principal theme of the A minor rondo shows that they do if the pianist does nothing to unclump them (whereas Rubinstein with his modern Steinway reduces his accompaniment to a gentle pulsation). A melody line tied down by an obtrusively chugging accompaniment tends to be a liability in slow pieces and variations. I noticed this first in the 11th variation of K. 353, and the Adagio in B minor is a long haul indeed. Brautigam seems to find it difficult to liberate his melodies from their accompaniments as we are told Mozart himself did, though to be fair I did make a note that he managed to voice the different layers of texture very successfully in the slow variation of K. 264. I also noted in the freer variations of K. 613 a degree of spontaneity which is not always present elsewhere.

So what does this add up to? Brautigam’s brilliance and enthusiasm, as well as the instrument itself, are just what is needed most of the time. Perhaps he will now record some of the concertos and seek out that depth and spontaneity which he seems capable of, but does not yet have completely on tap, as it were.

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Mozart - Sinfonie Concertanti

Karl Böhm - Berliner Philharmoniker

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 297 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 88 mb
Scans @ 300dpi = 14 mb

Total playing time: 63:08

Recorded: 12/1964 (K. 364) & 02/1966 (K. 297b), Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin

Released: 2003, Deutsche Grammophon 474 424-2

Track listing:
1. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 364 - Allegro Maestoso
2. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 364 - Andante
3. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 364 - Presto
4. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 297b - Allegro
5. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 297b - Adagio
6. Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major KV 297b - Andantino convariazioni

Composition description (allmusic):
KV 364
The magnificent Sinfonia concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra in E flat major, K. 364, is Mozart's only surviving complete work of this type, a genre that incorporates elements of both the symphony and concerto. Generally scored for two or more solo instruments and orchestra, the sinfonia concertante was particularly popular in Paris in the eighteenth century. It was there, in fact, that Mozart composed such a work in 1778 for four outstanding wind soloists from the Mannheim orchestra who were also then in the French capital; that work, however, is now known only in a spurious nineteenthth century edition.

During this period Mozart also began two other works in the sinfonia concertante genre, one for violin and piano in D major (1778), and another for violin, viola and cello in A major, K. 320e (ca. 1779-1780), neither of which progressed beyond the first 130 or so measures before the composer set it aside. The present work may be a replacement for the aborted D major work. It was composed in Salzburg during the summer or fall of 1779, about the same time as that work. In both works, Mozart calls for a higher tuning than is usual for the viola; his purpose in so doing was undoubtedly to give the instrument a brighter sound to avoid being overshadowed by its more penetrating violin companion.

The soloists for whom the Sinfonia concertante was composed are not known, but they may have been Antonio Brunetti, the leader of the Salzburg court orchestra, and the violinist Joseph Hafender. The work is in three movements: Allegro maestoso, Andante and Rondo. The orchestra includes two oboes, two horns, an optional pair of bassoons, and strings. The work is notable for its warm expansiveness; the Andante is particularly delectable with its ravishing dialogue between the two soloists. The scoring is unusually full and rich; Mozart's frequent divisi writing for the violas produces textures that presage the sumptuous writing in Idomeneo, ré di Creta (1781), the opera seria composed for Munich less than a year later.

KV 297b
Mozart's coming-of-age journey to Paris in 1777-1779 -- albeit with his mother as chaperone -- was not only circuitous but leisurely. When mother and son finally did reach Paris on March 23, 1778, he found the city that had hailed him as a prodigy 15 years earlier was now unhospitable -- indeed, inimical. He was able, however, to contact a quartet of visiting wind players from Mannheim, and on May 1 wrote to his "très cher Pére" that they asked him for a new piece to be performed at the Concert Spirituel in the Loge Olympique, Paris' most distinguished orchestral series. He claimed to have finished a "sinfonie [sic] concertante in the current popular style" for solo flute, oboe, bassoon, and horn, with an orchestra of two oboes, two horns, and strings. But the work, supposedly given to the Loge's impresario for copying, was set aside by the latter and subsequently lost. Mozart considered this to be another Parisian plot against him and in a later letter to Salzburg assured Papa Leopold that he could recreate the music from memory. But no manuscript has survived. Nevertheless, this composition turned up nearly a century later, in a hand not the composer's, with solo clarinet rather than flute. It became "K. Anhang 9/K. 297b" in the second edition (1905) of Ludwig Ritter von Köchel's storied Verzeichnis, originally published in 1862, and "K. Anhang C14.01" in the third version, edited by Alfred Einstein in 1937.

While Georges de Saint-Foix in 1932 and J.W. Turner in 1938 accepted it as authentic, The New Grove Mozart in 1982 concluded that "its credentials are dubious, and any music by Mozart that it may contain can only be in corrupt form." Even more recently, Robert Levin has written in the Mozart-Jahrbuch 1984/1985 that the orchestral part is authentic but the solo sections "adapted." Corrupt or not, the best pages are surely too beautiful to be spurious: the work overall has a recollective, even autumnal character found nowhere else found until the sublime B flat wind Serenade of 1781 (K. 361/370a).

All three movements are rooted in E flat major, a key shared by the "Jeunehomme" Piano Concerto (No. 9; K. 271) and the later Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola (K. 364/320d). The opening Allegro has three (rather than two) expositions of the principal and secondary subjects, first by the orchestra's strings, then twice by the solo quartet. Development and reprise ensue, with a through-composed cadenza before the coda. Though the nineteenth century source copy marked the middle movement Adagio, an Andante tempo is likelier, continuing in a vein of almost reflective lyricism with gentle exchanges of thematic material. Like the first movement, this one is in common time (4/4). The finale, Andante con variazioni, is in 2/4 until, after the last variation, six Adagio bars in common time lead to an Allegro coda in 6/8. There are ten variations altogether, each one 15 or 16 bars long, with identical, basically decorative orchestral ritornelli separating them.

Reviews:
Penguin Guide, 1984:
The account of the Sinfonia concertante is of superlative quality, sounding amazingly idiomatic and well blended, with the balance between soloists and orchestra nicely managed. This is altogether refreshing.

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Mozart - Piano Concertos Nos. 21 & 22

Wolfgang Sawallisch - Philharmonia Orchestra

Annie Fischer: piano

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 291 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 91 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 10 mb

Total playing time: 64:31

Recorded 28th February and 1st, 2nd and 10th March 1958, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Rd., London.

Released 2004

EMI Classics 7243 5 62750 2 7

Track listing:
1. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: I Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: II Andante
3. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C: III Allegro vivace assai
4. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat: I Allegro
5. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:II Andante
6. Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat:III Rondo (Allegro)

Reviews:
Gramophone
There is a snag about loving a piece of music especially dearly—you practically never hear a performance that is all you desire. I mention this because this E flat Mozart Piano Concerto is my own favourite of them all—yet everybody concerned with this record, bless them, has given me just the performance I want to hear; one, indeed, that even surpasses the ideal one of my imagination. I can find no praise too high for Annie Fischer's playing, for she makes every phrase a delight. Even plain scale passages become more than neatly played runs of notes, they become music. There is no end to the subtlety of her phrase shaping, of minute casings of tempo and, indeed, of everything that goes to make outstanding Mozart- piano playing. If both slow movements sound rather more adagio than andante, certainly the superb music of the E flat will stand it, especially when it is played as it is here.

The C major sounds rather less wonderful after the E flat, but that is probably only because it is a less wonderful concerto, for I am sure that the same remarkable artistry is brought to it. Cadenzas are by Hummel in the C major, by Busoni in the E flat.

Not less of a delight is that Sawallisch partners his soloist to perfection. These performances have clearly not been made on a run-through rehearsal before the first "take". (If they have, then Sawallisch is a genius at the job!) It sounds as if an appropriately small string body was used, with consequently good balance—indeed, here and there I wondered if the strings were not being unnecessarily held back a bit.

But everybody — soloist, conductor, orchestra and recording experts — has here combined to produce something really outstanding among recordings of Mozart concertos.

Classicstoday
These famous and rightly acclaimed performances need little recommendation from me. Annie Fischer's small discography for EMI has not been as well treated as it deserves, and so the release of this disc redresses a disservice to a very special artist. Fischer's characteristic intensity suits these concertos particularly well, and she turns the solo part into a true dialog with the orchestra. Especially in the slow movements it's wonderful to hear how she reacts to what is happening around her, while the use of Busoni's cadenzas in Piano Concerto No. 21 gives the reading unusual interest. Wolfgang Sawallisch admirably leads what clearly is Klemperer's Philharmonia, with woodwinds well to the fore; this makes Concerto No. 22 (with clarinets replacing the oboes) a particular feast for the ears and a marvel of textural interplay between Fischer and her colleagues. EMI's remastered sound is a bit bright, but it's vivid and clear nevertheless. A "great performance of the century" indeed!

Musicweb
Annie Fischer, the great Hungarian pianist, who died in 1995, was in her mid-forties when these superlative performances were committed to disc. She was at the height of her powers, and had as her collaborators in Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philharmonia. In Sawallisch she had a conductor who could respond whole-heartedly to her aesthetic and as for the Philharmonia this was certainly one of the best orchestras in the world at that time.

The trick with Mozart’s concertos is to be subtle without ever being twee, and Fischer knew exactly how to do that. As the liner-notes point out, her first entry in the C major concerto is masterly, sidling in almost apologetically amidst the woodwind conversation. The middle movement of each concerto is probably quite a bit slower than we have come to expect of a Mozart Andante these days. But that’s no bad thing, for Fischer and Sawallisch are able to give the music space and time without undue indulgence. This performance of the ‘dream Andante’ of the C major, long before Elvira Madigan was thought of, is perfection; the dreaminess is there, captured with ineffable beauty, but so are the uncomfortable twinges of realism that keep intruding. The finale of K.467 is again on the slow side of Mozart’s prescribed Allegro assai vivace, but has everything you would want in terms of wit and élan.

K.482 is one of the very finest of the Mozart keyboard concertos, with its majestic opening Allegro, its surprisingly dour Andante, and the serenade-like episode that interrupts the jolly finale. Fischer is devastating in the profoundly emotional solo passages of the Andante, and Sawallisch and the orchestra, particularly the fine woodwind soloists, respond magnificently.

The recording was in the absolute top class for its day, and this excellent transfer job by EMI means that it has come up sounding fresh as a daisy, and completely natural. An issue for which the word ‘great’ is in no way misplaced.

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Mozart - Così fan tutte

Karl Böhm - Wiener Philharmoniker

Lisa della Casa: Fiordiligi
Christa Ludwig: Dorabella
Anton Dermota: Ferrando
Erich Kunz: Guglielmo
Paul Schoeffler: Don Alfonso
Emmy Loose: Despina

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 717 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 210 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 24 mb

Total playing time: 74:37 + 71:45 = 146:22
Recorded 1955 | Released 1999

Recording: Redoutensaal, Vienna, 1955

Decca 455 476-2


Track listing:
1. Ouvertura
2. Atto I - La mia Dorabella capace non è
3. E' la fede delle femmine
4. Una bella serenata
5. Ah guarda, sorella
6. Vorrei dir, e cor non ho
7. Sento, o Dio, che questo piede
8. Bella vita militar!
9. Di scrivermi... ogni giorno
10. Soave sia il vento
11. Che vita maledetta
12. Ah! scostati! ... Smanie implacabili
13. In uomini, in soldati sperare fedeltà?
14. Che silenzio! ... Poverette!
15. Alla bella Despinetta
16. Temerari! Sortite ... Come scoglio
17. Non siate ritrosi
18. E voi ridete?
19. Un'aura amorosa del nostro tesoro
20. Ah, che tutta in un momento si cangiò la sorte mia!
21. Si mora, sì, si mora
22. Eccovi il medico, signore belle!
23. Dove son? Che loco è questo?
24. Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro
25. Atto II - Madame, trattar l'amore en bagatelle
26. Una donna a quindici anni
27. Prenderò quel brunettino
28. Secondate, aurette amiche
29. La mano a me date
30. Il core vi dono
31. Barbara! Perché fuggi?
32. Ei parte ... Per pietà, ben mio, perdona
33. Amico, abbiamo vinto!
34. Donne mie, la fate a tanti, a tanti
35. Ora vedo che siete una donna di garbo
36. Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti
37. Tutti accusan le donne
38. Fate presto, o cari amici
39. Benedetti i doppi coniugi
40. Miei signori, tutto è fatto
41. Richiamati da regio contrordine

Review:
Amazon.com customer review:
Sound: This was a state-of-the-art recording at the very beginning of the stereo era. As stereo players were still few and far between in 1955, it was originally issued on Lp in two versions, mono and stereo. The old Lp mono version--in what was then called "high fidelity"--easily held its own against stereo versions of the 1960s and 70s. The digital remastering of this stereo version appears to have taken place in 1999 and, so far as I am concerned, was highly successful.

Cast: Fiordiligi - Lisa della Casa; Dorabella - Christa Ludwig; Ferrando - Anton Dermota; Guglielmo - Erich Kunz; Don Alfonso - Paul Schoeffler; Despina - Emmy Loose. Conductor: Karl Boehm with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Staatsopernchor.

Text: This performance reflects the standard performing edition in use at the time it was recorded. Subsequent recordings have restored most cuts and frankly, in my opinion, have not been substantially enhanced by the restorations. Those of you who take a completist stance, feel free to disagree vehemently.

Documentation: Barebones. No libretto. Summary of the plot keyed to the track listings. A "fact file" presents odds and ends about the history of the opera. Track list with timings.

Format: Disk 1 - Act I, tracks 1-22; 74:30. Disk 2 - Act I (continued), tracks 1-2; Act II, tracks 3-19; 68:24.

A casual look at the catalogue suggests that Karl Boehm devoted every alternate weekend to recording yet another Mozart opera. This is the first of his recorded versions of "Cosi fan tutte." For all intents and purposes it is his forgotten Mozart opera. That is a shame because in many ways it is the best of the bunch. It so happens that a mono Lp version of this performance was the first "Cosi" that I ever heard. To this day I have never discovered a performance to match it.

The festival-quality cast is a perfect microcosm of the post-WWII golden age of the Vienna State Opera. The wonderful pairing of Lisa della Casa and Christa Ludwig is simply not to be matched elsewhere. Their big opening duet, "Ah, guarda sorella" is perfect--just perfect. Anton Dermota's voice is a bit heavier than those of the subsequent generation of Mozart tenors. It is not especially beautiful. He is not long of breath, so he doesn't astound us with long passages on a single gulp of air. He certainly does not add elaborate and picturesque decoration to Mozart's written vocal runs. All he does is sing the music exactly right. He is simply the best Mozart tenor ever to be recorded, that's all. Paul Schoeffler was a great master. Here he sounds just fine as someone a generation older than the rest of the cast, smarter, too, and more than a little vicious. Emmy Loose, now largely forgotten, was always a treat in character roles. I can't think of a better Despinetta. Ordinarily, I have no use whatsoever for Erich Kunz but here, for once, he turns in a respectable performance as Guglielmo.

Boehm was a great master of the old school. He keeps the show moving briskly and on point. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds terrific, as it certainly should in music that is at the very core of its repertory.

The date of the recording makes it clear that it long precedes any scholarly re-evaluations or piffling desires to return to period instruments and performing practices. Everybody concerned was simply attempting to serve up the very best "Cosi fan tutte" of which they were capable. And succeeding.

Grab this one while you still can!

Five stars.


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Mozart - Piano Quartets

THE MOZARTEAN PLAYERS

Steven Lubin - fortepiano
Stanley Ritchie - classical violin
Myron Lutzke - classical violoncello
David Miller - classical viola

Harmonia Mundi HCX 3957018

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 64:11
Covers & booklet included (scan @ 300dpi)

Recording:
December 1989, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York

CD release:
1990, 2004

Info:
Mozart's two piano quartets were written in his middle Vienna years, during the enormously fertile period of the genesis of Figaro. He wrote them within nine months of each other: the G-minor Quartet (K.478) was completed on 16 October 1785, according to the autograph, and the E-flat-major Quartet (K.493) on 3 June 1786, according to Mozart's catalogue of his own works (no autograph for the second quartet survives).
The two piano quartets exhibit remarkable formal and stylistic similarities, which attests yet again to Mozart's tendency to tailor works in each genre according to patterns he deemed appropriate to each. The piano quartets are three-movement works like the sonatas and trios, and so make a more intimate impression than the larger chamber works with minuets, like the string quartets and quintets. Yet, many details give the piano quartets a high specific gravity that sets them apart from the smaller chamber works: the elaborate first movements, with complex contrapuntal developments and codas, implying mandatory second repeats; the deeply serious slow movements; and the highly evolved alla breve rondos characteristic of the mature Mozart. The E-flat-major Rondo in particular — with its gavotte-like half-bar upbeat, full-fledged development, and exhilarating coda — ranks with Mozart's greatest examples of the form.

Track listing:
1. Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493 - 1. Allegro
2. Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493 - 2. Larghetto
3. Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493 - 3. Allegretto
4. Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478 - 1. Allegro
5. Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478 - 2. Andante
6. Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478 - 3. Rondo

Reviews:
Gramophone:
These are affectionate and musically very aware accounts of two beautiful works. Steven Lubin's piano, built by R. J. Regier after a Walter instrument (the make Mozart used) of about 1785, is—at least as captured on this recording—softer in tone and milder in attack than most fortepianos of the period that I have heard, and this helps impart an unusual warmth to the performances, which is further enhanced by the quite exceptional smoothness and sweetness, not to say the graceful phrasing, of Stanley Ritchie's playing on his period violin and the gentle resonance of Myron Lutzke's cello.

The players' readiness of response to the music is unmistakeable, and it gives rise to many felicities—in, for example, the long lines of the first movement of K493 or the alert detail in the K478 Andante. Sometimes, however, it seems to lead to performances that do not quite come fully to grips with the music, through the softening of climaxes or, perhaps particularly, the loss of momentum. Steven Lubin makes a good deal of rubato, which sometimes sounds slightly mannered and is not always done in the Mozartian way (that is, as Mozart himself specified, within a strict pulse). In the finale of K493, for example, the music doesn't often really seem to get going, and when it does it soon relaxes again; this applies especially in the dialogue passages, where Lubin's anxiety to illuminate each phrase is apt to be self-defeating. He also has a tendency to spread or roll chords to make an expressive point, more often than to some listeners might seem tasteful. There are a lot of tiny hesitations to make musical points, again perhaps more than desirable in the interest of sustaining the momentum of a movement. One senses a certain impetuosity in his playing and some want of discipline and control in his handling of rhythm from time to time.

These performances are, however, alternatives well worth considering to the Archiv Produktion disc by Malcolm Bilson and his English Baroque Soloists colleagues, the richer and better recorded of the existing versions. Bilson's tempos tend to be on the deliberate side, and these are serious, large-scale readings; the Mozartean Players' performances are more relaxed—though, I should add, not without strong and powerful things (listen for example to the development of the first movement of the G minor work). My preference remains with the Bilson version, but anyone looking for rather gentler performances, which perhaps make more of the individual, passing beauties of these works as opposed to their breadth and grandeur, will find much to enjoy in this new issue.'


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