Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.14 In E Flat Major, K 449 – Brautigam

   in Piano International (Mar, 2015)
Ronald Brautigam’s latest Mozart disc pairs two attractive concertos and also provides a fascinating study in contrasts. The chamber- like K449 can, said Mozart, ‘be performed a quattro without wind instruments’ (by piano and string quartet); Brautigam and Willens decline this option and, with the piano unduly foregrounded, they fail to realise the concerto’s spirit of playful camaraderie. The quasi-symphonic K467 is richly orchestrated, with Brautigam’s fortepiano providing a silvery thread of clarity amid Mozart’s brilliantly variegated textures and colours. From the opening Allegro’s festive splendour, through the subtle chiaroscuro of the hushed Andante to the madcap brio of the finale, this is a performance of thrilling panache! It’s possibly the …