Mozart: Piano Concertos K467, K491

by Robert Levin, Richard Egarr, Academy of Ancient Music

Overview

A series of Mozart piano concertos recorded by fortepianist Robert Levin and the Academy of Ancient Music started promisingly in the 1990s. Funding ran out, however, and the project was called off in 2000. Fans of the original series will be excited to hear that the COVID pandemic, which required a lot of closed-door recording sessions, has revived the cycle, which is now slated for completion. It resumes with this 2023 release, containing two favorite Mozart concertos, the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, and Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491. Those unfamiliar with Levin's work should sample well here, for this may well be unlike any other Mozart concerto performances they have heard. Levin, reasoning from the idea that Mozart's scores for the concertos are sometimes pretty fragmentary, concludes that he improvised at the keyboard and applies this to his own performances. He creates his own cadenzas, and these may be the best parts of his performances: many of them have a good deal of wit. He adds large amounts of ornamentation, also improvised, and he plays during the orchestral tutti, adding a kind of continuo and sometimes elaborating on this as well. One can argue about the validity of any or all of these approaches. Levin is not the first pianist to use them, but he perhaps takes the freedom further than the others (like Friedrich Gulda) who have done so. One should also note that Levin is also a scholar whose decisions are backed up by research. Ultimately, listeners will decide for themselves about his interpretations; enough have done so to put this release on the classical best-seller charts early in 2023. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/03/2023
Label:	Aam Records
UPC:	5060340150150
Rank:	143523

Tracks

1. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major K467~I. Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major K467~II. Andante
3. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major K467~III. Allegro vivace assai
4. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K491~I. Allegro
5. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K491~II. Larghetto
6. Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K491~III. Allegretto

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Robert Levin   Primary Artist,Fortepiano
Richard Egarr   Primary Artist,Conductor
Academy of Ancient Music   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Johann Carl Kloz   Instrument Design
Adrian Peacock   Editing,Producer
Mark Allan   Photography
Marco Borggreve   Photography
Neil Hutchinson   Engineer,Mixing Engineer,Mastering Engineer
S.L. Chai   Cover Design
Paul Klee   Cover Image
Carlo Giuseppe Testore   Instrument Design
William Forster   Instrument Design
John McMunn   Interviewee,Liner Notes,Photography
Agnes Gueroult   Instrument Design
John Dodd   Instrument Design
Luis-Emilio Rodriguez Carrington   Instrument Design
Paul Orriols   Instrument Design
Tim Richards   Instrument Design
Eric Mawbey   Instrument Design
Johann Gottfried Hamm   Instrument Design
Benjamin Sheen   Cover Design,Label Manager,Booklet Editor
J. Dodd   Instrument Design
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer
Marc van Wageningen   Keyboard Technician
Andrea Castagneri   Instrument Design
Kai-Thomas Roth   Instrument Design
Johann Georg Thir   Instrument Design
Clive Barda   Photography
Nicolas Augustin Chappuy   Instrument Design
John Hanchet   Instrument Design
Bojan Cicic   Leader
Carlo Antonio Testore   Instrument Design
Matthew Coltman   Instrument Design
Martin Hilsden   Instrument Design
Rudolf Tutz   Instrument Design
Sebastian Klotz   Instrument Design
Cliff Eisen   Liner Notes
Alfredo Bernardini   Instrument Design
Rachel Brown   Interviewee
Robert Vanryne   Instrument Design
Pieter de Koningh   Instrument Design
Barak Norman   Instrument Design
Gerhard Landwehr   Instrument Design
Giovanni Grancino   Instrument Design
Jan Pawlikowski   Instrument Design
George Stoppani   Instrument Design
John Betts   Instrument Design
Marco Ceccolini   Instrument Design
Ariane Todes   Interviewer
E. Hoffer   Instrument Design
Georg Aman   Instrument Design
Alfons Sibila   Instrument Design
Matt Martin   Instrument Design
Brian Tunnicliffe   Instrument Design
Edward Dodd   Instrument Design