Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claudio Abbado, Maria João Pires :: Mozart - Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 21 / Maria João Pires · COE · Abbado

Great performance for these underrated concertos

11/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As usual with Pires, her hyper-crystalline tones make this recording outstanding.In some recordings she tends to sound a little bit intimidated, but here there is no such a problem. She sounds extrovert and fresh whenever she needs to be in these uplifting concertos.Superbly recorded sound is also a big plus."

Incredible Perfection !!!

A. KONG | Guatemala, Guatemala | 11/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am an amateur pianist who has been studying classical music for over 15 years. I deeply enjoy and admire Mozart's works. To me, he is the greatest genius that ever existed on Earth. I have been studying piano concerto #21 for a few months, and have purchased many different recordings by the most renowned performers (more than 10) during this time.If you are planning on getting this piano concerto, believe me, this is THE recording you MUST buy. I currently own more than 500 classical music CDs and this one is definitely on the top 1% of the list - it is a genuine jewel.The things that I particularly like about this recording is: Sound quality is excellent; Maestro Rudolf Serkin's cadenzas performed here by Mrs. Pires are the most beautiful I have ever heard for this concert; and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Claudio Abbado sounds extremely rich, very well balanced.To those of you who are not familiar with Mrs. Pires, let me assure you that she is an excellent interpreter of the works of Mozart, Chopin and Bach, among others. To me, she is among the very best. As I see it, her hands are a true gift from God to humanity. Mozart would definitely be more than pleased with this performance!Piano Concerto #17 performance was very well described in the review below. Being a live recording it has an exceptional merit. It is also exquisitely performed.So... Get this recording! I assure you that you will not be disappointed!"

Definitive G-Major; very fine C-Major

John Grabowski | USA | 11/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first Pires recording I've ever heard, but it's not my first encounter with Mozart's K. 453. I've never found a recording until now that fully brought out all that I felt was there--I always walked away from a performance feeling there was more to this music than I was hearing. This is in a sense Romanticism in very early bloom, and in some ways the forerunner to such works as Beethoven's own magnificent and peerless G Major concerto. I hate to sound like I'm spewing hyperbole, but simply put this is the greatest recording of this concerto I have *ever* heard. It opened the work for me. (I was beginning to think this was one of those pieces with no satisfactory reading, such as with the Beethoven Ninth and the Mahler Seventh.) Pires and Abbado breathe as one, and "breathe" is the key word. This work is very hard to characterize emotionally, but it sighs and it sings enigmatically. Surprisingly, so many performances are very straightforward, never capturing these soulful, longing qualities that almost approach reverie at times. Not so this time. The interplay here is amazing, Pires' delicate approach is ideal for this music, and the conducting is elastic in that "Furtwanglerian" way. But don't get the impression this is bloated, Romantic Mozart...it's not. (Maybe Furtwangler wasn't the right name to evoke after all. Actually, no name is the right name to evoke. It's a unique statement, but what it shares in common with WF is the realization that certain sections breathe best at certain tempi, and the intellectual rigor and understanding to relate the different tempi and tensions organically to the whole, which Furtwangler had at his best.) Simply put, order this disc. It's from a live performance (though there's no trace of audience noise; DGs engineers are miracle-workers) and it has that special electricity and that feeling of an event that only a great live recording has. The accompanying concerto, the famous No. 21 in C, is a fine (studio) reading, but it is not quite at the top of the heap. The energy level isn't quite there...maybe the lack of a live setting makes a difference. At any rate, while fine, it still won't displace several of my other favorites, including the exquisitely polished Brendel/Marriner. But this disc is definitely worth owning, and would make it to my desert island in a heartbeat."