Ecmkeith Jarrett W.a Piano Concertos

This Decca 2CD set of Beethoven and Mozart recordings, issued along with a companion box that contains the other four Beethoven piano concertos (240 822-2), makes an apt memorial tribute to a pianist who stands as one of the ‘Great Pianists of the Century’. Katchen quite properly features in the distinguished series of recordings marketed by Universal under that title. His achievement might have been greater still but for the cancer claimed him in 1969 at the tragically early age of forty-two.

Volume 11 of the 'Next Generation Mozart Soloists' series presents Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major along with Piano Concertos KV 40 and KV 449. The Piano Concerto No. 3 is a very early work, derived from works by other composers, whereas No. 14 was written in 1784 by a fully mature Mozart, who was moving away from functional music towards expressing his ideas in a more dramatic structure. What links the two, says Swiss-Canadian pianist Teo Gheorghiu, is that they are both "concertos mainly joyful and optimistic in expression". French violinist David Castro-Balbi says "of Mozart’s violin concertos, No. 5 has the strongest operatic character". These two soloists are accompanied by the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the baton of Howard Griffiths.