Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.20 & 21

Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki is now 18 years old and while that is not as young as some of his contemporaries it is still rather amazing that he has such command of his instrument and of these difficult Mozart concerti. These performances may not have the splashy panache of other recordings but Liesiecki tends to move in a different direction: his playing is fluid and effortless as though these challenges are not insurmountable.

Liesiecki shows a depth of emotional maturity in his approach to Mozart, less interested in superficialities of showmanship than in the mysteries that lie beneath. As one learned colleague pointed out, `In the outer movements of both concertos there's a wit, clarity and logic in the interpretations that is rare among pianists of any age, while the slow movements are so perfectly balanced between dignity and pathos that the heart - as opposed to the mind - reels.'

Listen alone without the influence of any other outside forces and hear what this young master can do. The Bavarian Radio Symphony under the usual fine influence of Christian Zacharias somehow does not contribute the same caliber of musicality as the soloist. But that is a small detriment to this lovely recording. Grady Harp, February 13

With a mountain of PR preceding his debut album, the teenage phenom Jan Lisiecki could have set himself up for a fall - to undertake two of Mozart's greatest keyboard masterpieces is a potentially reckless choice. His British counterpart, Benjamin Grosvenor, chose much flashier material for his very successful debut. But one of Lisiecki's strengths is his unusually mature phrasing, which makes Mozart a nice choice, since experienced listeners - and other pianists - know who difficult Mozart actually is. (I hope he gets a chance to show off hi other strength, the phenomenal technique that was shown off in a recent Santa Fe recital of the complete Chopin Etudes.)

I'm sorry that the pianist and his conductor, Christian Zacharias, take such a tame view of the opening movement of the D minor Concerto K. 466, since they miss its kinship to the turbulent world of Don Giovanni. In the wake of period influence, it has become all too common to miniaturize Mozart as insurance that he doesn't sound romantic, but this movement is tasteful to a fault. The Romanze is poised and nicely phrased, the finale sprightly, if a bit cautious for Allegro assai. Some pianists cut loose when they get to the two Beethoven cadenzas in the outer movements, but Lisiecki prefers to remain chastely Mozartean. The recorded sound is very good, the piano a superb instrument, and the playing of the great Bavarian Radio SO as fine as one would expect. My sense of letdown could be traceable to Zacharias's routine conducting.

The conducting is just as bland in the C Major Concerto K. 467 - Lisiecki could have done just as well from the keyboard waving his hand every once in a while. Although these two concertos evoke two different sides of Mozart's temperament, here they sound very much the same, as does Lisiecki's tasteful playing. He gives us his own cadenza for the first movement and Badura-Skoda's in the finale, a nice out-of-the-way touch.

Given he outrageous one-star review that preceded me and Lsiecki's appealing persona and natural musicianship, I wanted to be enthusiastic. Let's say that this is a nice debut but one that doesn't give a balanced picture of a young pianist who has inspired so much excitement.

Experienced pianist Christian Zacharias conducting the Bayreuth Symphony provides an overly smooth, homogenized D minor with only moderate brooding for minor key dark tonic key tonality, the only minor key of Mozarts piano concertos incidentally, lacking the hefty dark themed start of the strings, which should quickly brighten up a bit to the fabulous theme with falling and rising themes between all sections - this is rather anemic and tame. You'll miss the whacking timpani strikes in the coda that are so welcome in the piece. Lisiecki enters with "stiff" playing, no matter his technical control, the "sameness" throughout the pieces, the hesitant delicacy, more suited to Mozarts very early piano concerts (perhaps), but this is mature Mozart among the height of his compositional skills. Dynamics, emotion and heft are needed here, Lisiecki maintains a limited keyboard profile, even with superb control - he comes off like he playing Bach's 2 and 3 piece inventions.
With the (Elvira Madigan nickname) of the #21 there is more of the same, rather anemic (but tonally secure) smooth Mozart. Lacking Mozartean vim and vigor, Lisiecki plays the notes very carefully without the passion, the self-evident joy of the rising and falling scales. The orchestral support remains well under control.
Very boring and anemic I'm afraid. Unless you want these two concerti in a delicate, cautious (however well recorded) slower performance, with undifferentiated keyboarding (no matter how near perfect) and a very small scale chamber orchestra component with somewhat limited heft and dynamics, even if tonally accurate - there are any number of pairings of these two masterworks that give more insight, musical excitement, involvement and fuller piano sound with more involvment with Mozart's piano phrasing than Lisiecki offers here.