The rate at which Mozart
composed often boggles the mind. We
won’t even mention the age at which
he started to compose; that boggles
as well. But the fact that between the
years of 1784 and 1786 he composed twelve
of his piano concertos truly staggers
the imagination. One of those concertos
is presented here, the K488 in A. Opening
the disc is the composer’s arrangement
of the earlier piano concerto No. 7,
originally for three pianos, presented
here in its more commonly-heard guise
for two pianos.
This disc, featuring
the fine playing of Mira Yevtich and
Ksenia Bashmet - the daughter of renowned
performer and conductor Yuri Bashmet
- is charmingly played and the balance
of the two instruments with the orchestra
in the K242 is lovely. The two pianos
are set just off-center from each, making
it easy to hear the individual parts
and get an excellent sense of the interplay
of the two piano parts in this piece.
Yevtich and Bashmet
opt for a more stately approach for
the K242; tempi for all of the movements
are more leisurely than the other recordings
in my collection. While enjoyable, this
slower pace has a tendency to sap a
touch of the vitality from the music.
The K242 is given a restrained, seamlessly-presented
performance here; extremely tastefully
done. My standard for the two-piano
version of the K242 has been, for some
time, the Perahia/Lupu with the English
Chamber Orchestra. While the Yevtich/Bashmet
version here is lovely, the Perahia/Lupu
has more sparkle and snap, with more
joyousness in the performance.
Yevtich’s tone is not
at all heavy, and she plays with the
crispness and sharp definition that
the music demands. She is the current
head of the department of piano education
at the Australian International Conservatory.
It indicates in the liner notes that
she has previous recordings on various
labels, but in my searches I haven’t
found any aside from this one commercially
available. Ksenia Bashmet toured the
Continent with her father last year
... based on this recording, it may
be well worth while to check out one
of her concerts this season.
Mira Yevtich next performs
the seemingly ubiquitous Piano Concerto
No. 23. This performance has a more
thoughtful approach than some of the
rollickingly quick-paced versions I’ve
encountered on some of the budget labels
recently. In the first movement, the
pace is slightly faster than Perahia’s.
The English Chamber Orchestra to me
sounds fuller and less dry on Perahia’s
recording than the Russian Philharmonic
here. The Adagio however, at
almost 8 minutes, is appreciably slower
than any of the other performances I
have. While this works quite well at
the immediate onset of the movement
— the solo piano introduction here is
quite arresting - it drags the movement
down as it progresses. The finale returns
with a snappier tempo, and the Russian
Philharmonic stays precise in the orchestral
presentation of the first theme after
the initial entrance of the piano. Yablonsky
brings out more forceful changes in
dynamics, but Perahia brings out charming
artful flourishes such as the sudden
surfacing of the clarinets at 0:47.
Yevtich does Mozart extremely well,
and, though I still prefer the wonderful
recordings of Perahia, this remains
a thoroughly enjoyable performance.
I see myself returning to this disc
well after this review has been submitted.
David Blomenberg
Mira Yevtich, (Piano) 
