Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano; Gottfried von der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester. Harmonia Mundi HMM 902332.
By John J. Puccio
This album should greatly annoy the anti-HIP crowd. It’s Mozart performed by a period-instrument ensemble, played by a soloist on a fortepiano, and done up in a historically informed style.
The period band is one of my favorite such groups, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, led by Maestro Gottfried von der Goltz. The soloist is Kristian Bezuidenhout, who is an old hand at this kind of thing, and the fortepiano he uses is a copy of an 1805 Walter & Sohn instrument. I have reviewed this team of players before in Mozart and Beethoven, and I love them. There is no exception here.
The first item on the program is the Piano Concerto No. 9 in-flat major, K.271, an early concerto that Mozart wrote in 1777 when he was about twenty-one years old. Despite its youthful appearance, music scholars have always hailed it as one of Mozart’s finest works, the critic Charles Rosen calling it “perhaps the first unequivocal masterpiece of the classical style.”
The first thing I need to remind you of is that a fortepiano is not going to sound like a modern grand piano. The forte is a forerunner of the grand and successor of the harpsichord. As a result, it has something of the sound of both. It is not as light and “tinny” as a harpsichord nor is it as rich and mellifluous as a grand. But it still strikes a good compromise, providing a sweet, transparent sound. As for the performance, it is beautifully articulated, Bezuidenhout and company adopting a quick yet unhurried pace, with plenty of contrast and feeling in the playing. It is clearly the work of a young composer, and both soloist and orchestra here treat it as such--not as a museum piece but as a lively bit of creativity, full of surprises and sweet turns of phrase. After a zesty opening Allegro, the central slow movement is almost operatic by comparison, a lovely, dramatic counterpoint, which Bezuidenhout negotiates with charm and poise. The closing Presto, of course, is the place where most composers would dazzle us, and neither Mozart nor Bezuidenhout disappoint. It’s a grand, delightful affair all around.
The other selection is the Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major, K.456, written in 1784. Rumor has long held that Mozart wrote it for his friend, the blind Austrian pianist Maria Theresa von Paradis, a story that may or may be true. Regardless, like so much of Mozart’s music, it is familiar stuff, elegant and ebullient throughout. More important, Bezuidenhout is wonderfully fluent and dexterous with every series of notes. As always with Mozart, the melodies pour out in every direction, and their appeal has never been more apparent than here--graceful, sumptuous, mature, with Bezuidenhout and company in full command.
Producer Martin Sauer and engineer Tobias Lehmann recorded the concertos at the Ensemblehaus Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany in May 2021. As with previous productions from this team and this venue, the sound is exemplary. It has good definition, realistic imaging, moderate spaciousness and depth, more than adequate dynamics, and a pleasantly realistic presence, with the piano nicely balanced with the rest of the ensemble.
JJP
By John J. Puccio
The period band is one of my favorite such groups, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, led by Maestro Gottfried von der Goltz. The soloist is Kristian Bezuidenhout, who is an old hand at this kind of thing, and the fortepiano he uses is a copy of an 1805 Walter & Sohn instrument. I have reviewed this team of players before in Mozart and Beethoven, and I love them. There is no exception here.
The first item on the program is the Piano Concerto No. 9 in-flat major, K.271, an early concerto that Mozart wrote in 1777 when he was about twenty-one years old. Despite its youthful appearance, music scholars have always hailed it as one of Mozart’s finest works, the critic Charles Rosen calling it “perhaps the first unequivocal masterpiece of the classical style.”
The other selection is the Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major, K.456, written in 1784. Rumor has long held that Mozart wrote it for his friend, the blind Austrian pianist Maria Theresa von Paradis, a story that may or may be true. Regardless, like so much of Mozart’s music, it is familiar stuff, elegant and ebullient throughout. More important, Bezuidenhout is wonderfully fluent and dexterous with every series of notes. As always with Mozart, the melodies pour out in every direction, and their appeal has never been more apparent than here--graceful, sumptuous, mature, with Bezuidenhout and company in full command.
Producer Martin Sauer and engineer Tobias Lehmann recorded the concertos at the Ensemblehaus Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany in May 2021. As with previous productions from this team and this venue, the sound is exemplary. It has good definition, realistic imaging, moderate spaciousness and depth, more than adequate dynamics, and a pleasantly realistic presence, with the piano nicely balanced with the rest of the ensemble.
JJP
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