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Haydn & Mozart Piano Concertos

Joseph Haydn Concertos
D major, Hob.XVIII/11
F major, Hob.XVIII/3;
D major, Hob.XVIII/2;
G major, Hob.XVIII/4

Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano
Concerto Copenhagen/Lars Ulrik Mortensen, director/continuo

BIS-CD-1318 [TT: 76 mins]

Sheer delight!

 

Only the D major, Hob.XVIII/11 has been known to me for many decades (Wanda Landowska's irresistible verve on harpsichord) but this brings the newer historical knowledge to bear, marvelously realized by Brautigam and Mortensen, with the expert period instrument group Concerto Copenhagen. Balance is perfect, the fortepiano a little quiet for even a small period orchestra, as is so inevitably in live performance too. The slow movement is duly affecting between the fast Vivace and sparkling Rondo all'Ungarese .

 

The other authentic keyboard concertos of Haydn here (the rest of the twenty-one of them were for organ and often played during Mass - not so austere as in northern Germany !) are unaccountably overlooked. Haydn did not play them himself and the notes writer speculates that he did not seek to compete with Mozart in that area.

 

Mozart Piano Concertos (Maulbronn Monastery Series)

Concertos No. 16 in D major, KV 451 & No. 20 in D minor, KV 466

Cristina Marton & Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn/Ruben Gazarian

K&K Verlagsanstalt KuK 82 [60 mins]

The latest in the Maulbronn Monastery series, which I am listening to whilst writing, has Cristina Marton playing Concerto Nos. 16 & 20 with the Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn/Ruben Gazarian. These are given with modern instruments and are, frankly, not quite competitive with the best of the many other recorded versions.

But if you like live music making on CD, without too much concern for period authenticity, the experience is enhanced by listening on your computer whilst logged into the KKK website (something of a work of art in itself) where you can see evocative pictures of the Monastery whilst listening (see also the gallery of pictures taken at the performance of Solomon ) - nearly as good as a DVD!  

See also Musical Pointers reviews of Handel's Solomon , Haydn Grand Duos and The Orpheus String Quartet at Maulbronn

 

 

 

© Peter Grahame Woolf