Mozart: Piano Concertos

Piano Concertos No. 24 in C minor, K491 Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K503

Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens

BIS SACD 1894

This is the second release of what bids fair to become one of the most auspicious sets of the Mozart piano concertos, for which modern instruments have become an anachronism. (K271 & K414 are on BIS-SACD-1794.)

These two great concertos are given completely persuasive performances, perfectly balanced in a Wippertal church, accompanied by Cologne's dedicated early instruments ensemble. The conductor, its music director, is an international generalist, expert in performing styles of all ages, and the partnership seems one that augurs well for the series.

The stimulating notes by John Irving (who owns and plays a similar Walter/McNulty instrument) draws scholarly attention to unique features of each of these two masterpieces. A nice touch is the cover photo, captioned with the cheeky suggestion "build your own fortepiano - step 2: split a linden tree log for the heads of the hammers" !

Peter Grahame Woolf

See also Brautigam Beethoven Sonatas12-15

and Brautigam Piano&Fortepiano Masterclass