Mozart The Great Piano Concertos

With this second recording of piano concertos - following the Variations in 2021 - I am extending my Franz Xaver Mozart project. Already at an early stage in my career as a pianist, I felt a special connection to the compositions of Franz Xaver Mozart. It was his 1st Piano Concerto that I performed during my first orchestral performance abroad at the age of 13, that took place in Switzerland, accompanied by the INSO Lviv Orchestra. His music stirred my soul and still inspires me today. After my studies, I became intensively absorbed in Franz Xavier Mozart’s work. In the process, I kept discovering new precious musical gems. His work in Galicia continues to invigorate the multicultural life of the region to this day.

As one of the finest pianists of his era and an improviser of genius, Ludwig van Beethoven’s preferred vehicle for musical exploration was the piano. With his five piano concertos composed between 1788 and 1809, he not only achieved a brilliant conclusion to the Classical piano concerto, but also established a new model for the Romantic era: a sort of symphony with obbligato piano which was to remain a reference point well into the twentieth century.

Perhaps Mozart sings more, but Haydn speaks, he chatters, he rejoices and talks about the really important things in life”. After Matthias Kirschnereit’s exploration with the Radio Hesse Symphony Orchestra of the middle ground between the Classical and Romantic eras in works by Hummel, Weber and Mendelssohn, the pianist now turns to Haydn. And that means he is entering the terrain, somewhat neglected even now, of the great Austrian’s piano concertos. All nine keyboard concertos that were definitely written by Haydn are now being released with Matthias Kirschnereit and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn, which he directs from the instrument. Included is the Double Concerto in F major with Lena Neudauer on the violin. As a "chamber music treat", Matthias Kirschnereit also had the Piano Trio in G major arranged and recorded. The recording is a co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

It's impossible to imagine more compelling performance of this music- Howard Shelley is truly a rescuer of lost musical souls. –Gramophone, Jan'17

Jeremy Denk is joined by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for two Mozart concertos—No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 and No. 20 in D minor, K. 466—bookending the composer’s solo Rondo in A minor, K. 511.

This new release is pianist-conductor Lars Vogt’s debut album together with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris. Lars Vogt started his tenure as the new Music Director of the orchestra on 1 July 2020. This album release continues Lars Vogt’s discography of recordings of cornerstone works within the classic piano concerto literature conducting from the keyboard.

“…..Pressler has played Mozart’s piano concertos with such frequency that they can be reckoned among the works that have occupied him the most in his life. Fortunately, a wish that Pressler and the musicians of the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra had been having for many years finally came true: in May and December 2016, Pressler performed as a soloist in his home town. In May he performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B Flat Major K595, and in December he played the Piano Concerto in A Major K488. On the subject of Mozart, he remarks: “In Mozart there are no ‘empty’ passages.

With volume 4 of the complete Mozart Concertos, Cyprien Katsaris, Mari Ota and Eung-Gu Kim and the Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie under the baton of the Korean conductor Yoon K. Lee address the Concertos for two and three pianos, K. 365 and K. 242. These pieces, written in Mozart’s home city, bear witness to the relationships Mozart enjoyed with his pupils in the Salzburg aristocracy.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung described the Swiss pianist See Siang Wong as a "subtle sound painter". For his atmospheric album "Minore - Piano Concertos No. 20 & No. 24, Adagio K. 540" he has chosen very special works by Mozart. They are the only works composed in minor keys, thus differing greatly from Mozart's major works and shaping the intense character of the album. See Siang Wong says of them, "Mozart's minor works are touching in their depth and individuality.