Mozart: Piano Concerto 22 & 23

 

Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 22 in E-flat Major is a bit of a behemoth. The outer movements are long, and I am not sure they can withhold the weight.

On the other hand, these two concertos introduce the clarinet to Mozart's piano concertos, and certainly the instrument gets a lot of mileage out of the composer.

Also, Mozart is more willing to use spare piano textures, ones where only a single right-hand line plays, or where only one note exists in the right hand and only one in the left, where Mozart goes back and forth between single notes. Shedding the constant left-hand motion and Alberti Bass is a new sound for Mozart in these concertos, and a welcome one at that.

The K. 482 first movement motives are strong enough, if not among my favorites. I think it is the double exposition, first with orchestra and then with piano, which overdoes this portion of the work for me.

On the upswing, we get a lovely minor-keyed middle movement, which eventually branches out into a series of variations. The final movement bears a mighty swing with some hunting horn calls and fine wind work. In this concerto diptych, Christian Zacharias is joined by the Staatskapelle Dresden, and while I might prefer the Bavarian forces from earlier, having David Zinman back is a boon for the Dresden ensemble.

As I mentioned in the concertos previous to these (BLOG), from here forward, Zacharias' recordings on EMI consistently become my ideal performances. Still, Barenboim with Berlin on EMI and Uchida with Jeffrey Tate are equal to the task, my first recommendation of the latter team.

In this particular recording, Zacharias is a little more spontaneous and intrusive with ornaments and added piano embellishments, tasteful though they be. Some might prefer the piano to cleave closer to the printed score, in which case I would skate to the others.

In Piano Concerto no. 23 in A Major, there is something about the opening harmonies which seem inventive yet timeless. I am not sure what Mozart does to achieve this effect in my mind, but it works on me every single time. So too, all of the melodic material here is so charming, I have not word against this opening movement, and it may be my favorite openings of all the concertos. Do I detect some eye-twinkling scampering too?

Once again, Mozart returns to minor for the second movement, and it is a always a special gift from the composer when he chooses to do so. Zacharias is in no hurry here, not only giving his usual thoughtful poetry and skill, but a sense of deep atmosphere rarely trod. Excellent!

To finish off K. 488, a joyful country romp features great instrumental virtuosity. The bright A-Major key lends the work a sunshiny conclusion.

It should be noted that Christian Zacharias uses his own cadenzas in both of these concertos. In one case, the orchestra surprisingly joins in with the pianist during the cadenza, an oddity for sure.

In general, I find Uchida and Tate too delicate and polite in Mozart, but in K. 488 they really come into their own, so if you want only one recording of theirs, these two concertos are their best. Otherwise, Barenboim and Berlin on EMI are great again. Zacharias and Zinman, however, are my personal favorites.

 

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Works
Piano Concerto 22 in E-flat minor, K. 482 (35.02)
Piano Concerto 23 in A Major, K. 488 (25.11)

Soloists
Christian Zacharias, piano

Performers
Staatskapelle Dresden
David Zinman, conductor

Label: EMI
Year: 1986

 

 

 

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