Mozart: Piano Concerto Nos. 20 & 27 – Brautigam

Piano International (Mar, 2014)
Ronald Brautigam’s latest Mozart disc features two popular, yet very different, concertos from the composer’s later years. Robert Levin once described K466 as ‘demonic’ – only a slight exaggeration, given its predominantly Sturm und Drang spirit: from the baleful turbulence of the first movement to the fretful third (upbeat ending notwithstanding), it’s a dark, dramatic work. K595, in contrast, is a personal, low-key affair, a refined pastoral idyll, composed for a smaller orchestra without trumpets or timpani and possibly intended for a chamber ensemble. As Daniel Isoir and La Petite Symphonie proved on their 2012 Agogique recording, a one-instrument-per-part version can bring out the music’s intimate, playful qualities to sparkling effect. …