Mozart, Pires, Abbado Piano Concertos

It's a recording that just a few years ago would have been mainstream: a "name" pianist (albeit one much less well known in the U.S. than elsehwere), who has been playing Mozart's piano concertos since childhood, joins forces with a name conductor with whom she has frequently collaborated, leading a modern-instrument orchestra of some 70 players, with the results released on a major international-conglomerate label. Now it's distinctly unusual. But lo, there's value in the old ways. Portuguese-Brazilian pianist Maria-João Pires is a lifelong Mozart specialist, but she still has new things to say in two of Mozart's most popular piano concertos. You can chalk it up to her Buddhist outlook if you like: her readings of the Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595, and Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, might be described as detached without being lifeless. Her approach is most startling in the Piano Concerto No. 20, where her no-drama shaping of the material runs sharply counter to type. Sample the piano's entrance in the first movement, where it offers a twisting, tense elaboration of the main theme that is far removed from its source material. Generally pianists use this to raise the tension level, but Pires lets the unusually shaped, chromatic line speak for itself with fine effect.

MOZART 111 combines the best of the Austrian master's music with the best of Deutsche Grammophon's Mozart recordings, bringing together a total of 111 works, while retaining, as far as possible, the original album releases with their cover art. There's enough of everything here to stock a shop, as they say, in performances that have stood the test of time and performances that make you sit up and listen to Mozart afresh the perfect way to discover, rediscover and savor the incomparable genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Deutsche Grammophon's five-CD trimline box set of the complete concerto recordings by Maria João Pires, packaged in separate sleeves with their original cover art, focuses quite appropriately on her area of specialization, the piano concertos of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The first CD offers her eloquent performances of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, in performances conducted by Emmanuel Krivine and André Previn, respectively, and Disc 5 closes with her refined reading of Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor. Between them are seven piano concertos by Mozart, with six of those performances conducted by Pires' longtime collaborator, Claudio Abbado, who also led the Schumann, while one of the Mozart performances was directed by Frans Brüggen.

2009 Marks The 111th Anniversary Of Deutsche Grammophon. Over 11 Decades, The Label's Philosophy Has Always Been 'The Greatest Recordings By The Greatest Artists In The World' And Now They Showcase This With This Incredible 55 Cd Box Set. This Unique Collection Forms Dg's Major Release In Its 111th Anniversary Celebrations. The Limited Edition Box Set Gathers Together Many Landmark Recordings, From The Past To The Present. Most Of Them Appear Complete, As Originally Programmed, In Their Original Cover Art And Several Include Additional Material. It Is A True Library Of Music, Artists And Recordings Extending From Abbado To Zimerman, Monteverdi To P„rt, Furtw„ngler To Dudamel– There's Never Been Anything Quite Like It Before. The Opulent Deluxe Box With Hinged Lid Opens Up To Reveal The Neatly Stacked Contents Of 51 'Original Jacket' Albums And 150-Page Booklet.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era.

2009 Marks The 111th Anniversary Of Deutsche Grammophon. Over 11 Decades, The Label's Philosophy Has Always Been 'The Greatest Recordings By The Greatest Artists In The World' And Now They Showcase This With This Incredible 55 Cd Box Set. This Unique Collection Forms Dg's Major Release In Its 111th Anniversary Celebrations. The Limited Edition Box Set Gathers Together Many Landmark Recordings, From The Past To The Present. Most Of Them Appear Complete, As Originally Programmed, In Their Original Cover Art And Several Include Additional Material.