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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Decca has gotten around the perennial problem of filling Mozart Piano Concerto CDs by splitting No. 25 between two discs, giving us 155 minutes of Mozart for the price of a single top-line CD. The performances are top-line, too, if you like big-orchestra Mozart. Ashkenazy performs this music in a public, large-auditorium style, without the intimacy or niceties we hear from period instruments or from such pianists as Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida. His own cadenzas for three of the concertos are also very extroverted - and, alas, not very imaginative. Also, there are a few moments when the orchestra might have benefited from a firmer hand on the tiller than the pianist-conductor can provide. Overall, though, these are dramatic, involving Mozart performances, even if their style belongs more to the past than to the present. --Leslie Gerber
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
178 of 182 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As a long-time fan of Vladimir Ashkenazy's playing, I could have been given no better Christmas present from my friend than this CD. Mozart is a sublime composer (one of my favourites), and I have rarely encountered someone who doesn't admire and respect his oeuvre. These concertos (20, 21, 23, 24 & 25) stem from his later period and are all beautiful examples of Mozart's skill at keyboard composition. The piano is superbly balanced against the orchestral accompaniment, and in these recordings Ashkenazy performs at his best. Lyrical and articulate (as he always is) he takes the concertos at a natural pace and allows them to breathe. As he is also conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra from the piano the recording has a sense of freshness, vitality, and grace that stems from the soloist's interaction with his orchestra under the dual hat of conductor. A worthy CD in every respect, I warmly recommend it for first-time Mozart listeners and well-learned Mozart scholars alike.
A point of interest regarding the two C major and the C minor concertos recorded here is that the cadenzas are composed by Ashkenazy himself; the other two by Mozart (K488) and Beethoven (K466).
A beautiful CD and a must-have for the collection.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Mozart is deceptively hard to play - everything is so exposed and must sound clean and polished. I have a lot of respect for Ashkenazy as a pianist, because in these Mozart concertos he has achieved just that. Perfect legato, even playing. I find these recordings so satisfying to listen to, as he is in utter control of everything. The playing of the Philharmonia is beautifully refined (Ashkenazy conducting from the keyboard) - every melodic line is brought out, and the emphasis on phrases is exactly where it should be. I would say that the orchestral playing in the Ashkenazy cycle is superior to that of the revered Murray Perahia cycle - Mozart - The Piano Concertos.
The D minor concerto has to be one my favourites of Mozart's 27, and it is given an amazing performance here (as are the rest). I found it more satisfying than Perahia's - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 27. The work itself is so good, Beethoven wrote a magnificent set of cadenzas for it! I particularly enjoy listening to how Ashkenazy executes these cadenzas with so much expression and real virtuosity.
Ashkenazy's performance of these works sound perfect to my ears. Go on treat yourself! Once I heard this selection of concertos, I jumped at the chance to purchase the Ashkenazy box - Mozart: The Piano Concertos from Amazon for a crazy £16! I highly recommend that purchase too. I notice Amazon's prices fluctuate from time to time...
The D minor concerto has to be one my favourites of Mozart's 27, and it is given an amazing performance here (as are the rest). I found it more satisfying than Perahia's - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 27. The work itself is so good, Beethoven wrote a magnificent set of cadenzas for it! I particularly enjoy listening to how Ashkenazy executes these cadenzas with so much expression and real virtuosity.
Ashkenazy's performance of these works sound perfect to my ears. Go on treat yourself! Once I heard this selection of concertos, I jumped at the chance to purchase the Ashkenazy box - Mozart: The Piano Concertos from Amazon for a crazy £16! I highly recommend that purchase too. I notice Amazon's prices fluctuate from time to time...
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Unlike previous reviewers I am a mere amateur who just knows what I like and don't like. What's not to like about this wonderful elegant sound? It's like pure sweet water bubbling down from the hills in a pastoral landscape.
Bringing together two geniuses: Mozart and Ashkenazy with the backing of the Philharmonia, what could go wrong: answer - nothing, pure delight on a cold winter's afternoon or any time for that matter.Mozart: Great Piano Concertos
Bringing together two geniuses: Mozart and Ashkenazy with the backing of the Philharmonia, what could go wrong: answer - nothing, pure delight on a cold winter's afternoon or any time for that matter.Mozart: Great Piano Concertos
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
MOZART PIANO CONCERTOS
ONCE AGAIN, THIS CD IS A GIFT FOR MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE NOT YET HEARD IT BUT THE PERFORMER HAS NEVER DISAPPOINTED ME AND I AM SURE WE WILL ENJOY LISTENING TO THE CD.
Published 5 months ago by madcow
Excellent performance
I bought this CD for my grand-daughter studying music at uni. The disc came very quickly and she is delighted with it.
Published 6 months ago by Ed wales
mozart great piano concertos
very good playing and competent conducting I enjoyed the selection, the item arrived in good time and condition , very satisfied,
Published 9 months ago by HMH
Not convinced
I like Ashkenazy, and I love and revere Mozart, but when the former plays the latter I hear too many instances of Ashkenazy loving the music "not wisely but too well". Read more
Published 13 months ago by Harry Callahan
A great collection of piano concertos - amazing value
Some lovely recordings and for the price I paid this has to be the bargain of the year. The strings are powerful and Ashkenazy's piano is sufficiently forward in the mix to be... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Paul101
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