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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
Product Description
2CD V.Ashkenazy/Po
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
182 of 186 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
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.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By A Brahms fan
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...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Paul101
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
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 clear without feeling too separate from the orchestra. My personal favourite is concerto 20 in D minor which is full of energy and vigour in the interplay between Ashkenazy and the orchestra whilst maintaining a brooding feeling of weight and pathos. Super recordings!
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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fresh look at Mozart
Ashkeazy gives fresh performances of these concertos which do not always conform to the more usual renderings in either tempo or phrasing. I just enjoy listening to them.
Published 10 days ago by Richard
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK
I waned to see more about Ashkenazy
good exponent.
Epson - TOO expensive ...that's why people go for some compatibles. Read more
good exponent.
Epson - TOO expensive ...that's why people go for some compatibles. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. J. Hobby
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five masterpieces in one box set
If you like your Mozart played by a more sizeable modern orchestra, as opposed to a "period" orchestra or even a small ensemble, then these are the performances for you. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Salieri
5.0 out of 5 stars
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 17 months ago by madcow
5.0 out of 5 stars
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 17 months ago by Ed wales
4.0 out of 5 stars
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 21 months ago by HMH
2.0 out of 5 stars
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 on 9 April 2011 by Harry Callahan
5.0 out of 5 stars
sparkling
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? Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Mrs. M. Thewarapperuma
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