Mozart K216

This new release on Lara St. John’s Ancalagon label pairs the gifted violinist with her equally talented brother in Mozart concertos, individually and together. In Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Scott St. John tackles the viola part, using the scordatura tuning – up a semitone from D major – that Mozart specifies in the score to give greater presence to the instrument. Conductor Eric Jacobsen sets a stylish introduction with the New York-based chamber orchestra, The Knights, though some may find the orchestral image a bit weighty for this repertoire.

Mozart: The Violin Concertos, recorded with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL), of which Capuçon is Artistic Director. Mozart has been at the heart of the OCL’s repertoire since its foundation in 1942, and the orchestra’s extensive discography already includes acclaimed recordings of the composer’s complete piano concertos and serenades and other works. Now Mozart: The Violin Concertos reflects the rapport that Renaud Capuçon and the OCL have developed since the former became the ensemble’s Artistic Director at the start of the 2021 22 season.

Vladimir Spivakov belonged to the same artistic tradition established by Leopold Auer, and even it might be said he was the true inheritor of the crown afetr Oistrakh and Kogan in which majestic tune, virile temperament and dazzling technique.

Cho-Liang Lin /Leppard - Mozart: Violin Concerto No.1 & 4
Vinyl Rip in 24-Bit/96-kHz | FLAC tracks | Full Scan Covers | MU, RS | 976 MB 3% recovery
1988 | Genre: Classical | Label: CBS Masterworks | 44503 | US pressing

The effervescence of Lin's playing goes well with the approach to these works which Leppard makes explicit in his sleeve-note. Balanced rather more naturally than either Perlman (DG) or Mutter (EMI) on their rival versions of K218 Lin's extra delicacy goes with an easier manner with more fun in it, bringing out the light and shade. As Leppard puts it, with rococo pomposity and coquettish charm contrasted, ''the listener is forced to become, like Cherubino later, a reluctant member of the 18th century militia at one moment and a lover well-versed in 18th century courtesies the next''. The slow movement is most tenderly done, with a magically hushed final phrase from the soloist, while the humour of the finale is delectably pointed by soloist and conductor alike.

(Edward Greenfield, Gramophone, 9/1988)

The answer to the question what would post-Oistrakh Soviet Mozart sound like? is Vladimir Spivakov. The answer to the question what does Spivakov's Mozart sound like? is lightly, lively, elegant, and, every once in a while, extremely intense. In these recordings from the late '70s and early '80s of Mozart's violin concertos and Sinfonia Concertante with the English Chamber Orchestra and violist Yuri Bashmet, Spivakov plays and conducts with graceful artistry, consummate virtuosity, and deep humanity. In opening Allegros, Spivakov is airborne in the zephyrs of spring. In the closing Rondos, Spivakov is dancing in the ballrooms of Europe. But sometimes, especially in the central Andantes, Spivakov can sing with an intimacy and intensity that reveal a more profound Mozart, a Mozart touched not only by eternity but by mortality.