Two magnificent Mozart Concertos, a wonderful pairing, but some of the dullest and most unfocused Mozart playing I've heard in a long time.
In Fray's favour, he does have control of some moments of poetry - he delivers a nicely-shaped, if weedy, line at times. On this front, though, he never 'soars' and allows the gorgeous piano writing to sing through. It's as if he is a self-conscious pianist, unsure of purpose.
What really bothers me most about this playing is the inability to communicate the power of the music. Especially in Concerto 25 - it has been called 'Olympian' and Mozart's 'Emperor' Concerto. Fray portrays none of this grandeur - the climaxes are, at most, weak, and the music does not pulsate forward - the filigree fingerwork seems sluggish and there is a distinct lack of crispness, especially in much of the left hand passage-work. And he simply does not relish the wonderful and adventurous slithering chromaticism.
Ensemble with orchestra seems at best just OK, and, at worst (quite a lot of the time) rather confused. It feels as if the orchestra were inhibited and playing as though on egg shells. Somehow this feels as if there was not a good rapport between soloist and orchestra - a pity, as this let down poor Mozart.
In all, this is a po-faced performance and certainly not one that has in any way endeared me to Fray's playing.