In October last year I welcomed the re-issue of Barenboim’s
1973 recording of K491 with the English Chamber Orchestra (Classics
for Pleasure 2282782 coupled with the Concerto in D minor, K466
and Sonata in C, K545) and found it to be “magnificent” and
the performance to have “a real feeling of intimacy.” (
see
review)
Fifteen years later, an older, and one supposes wiser, Barenboim
returns to the same music but with a different idea of how the
music should play and with an orchestra which many wouldn’t
choose for this kind of intimate concerto.
K491 begins quite baldly; there’s no mystery, no
excitement for what is to come, and when we reach the first tutti
we realize that the tempo is far too fast to allow for the tragedy
which is unfolding before our ears. It’s all handled too
heavily and without recourse to rubato or anything which will
break up the straightforward three-beats-to-a-bar. I don’t
expect this music to smile, far from it. Mozart is far too immersed
in his problems to have the time for a smile to cross his lips.
Barenboim is certainly subtler than his orchestra but he’s
still rather hard-driven, and although there are flashes of the
younger Barenboim, from the CFP recording, this is a much older
man’s reading which is rather bogged down by an unwelcome
weightiness. This is very noticeable in the first movement cadenza
- by Barenboim - which is too Schumann and not enough Mozart.
The slow movement was relatively free from these problems but
with the finale we are supposed to enter a world of rare desperation,
but here it is played too quickly and, as such, it loses all
sense of gravitas; indeed, at times it’s almost jaunty!
Suddenly, at 4:43 Barenboim gets it right - there’s mystery
and intensity, and that edgy feeling which has been missing throughout
the performance. Apart from the huge rallentando at the final
cadence, this is how it should be!
K503 is a much more outgoing work - it’s in C major
for a start! Much of what I wrote about
K491 can equally
be relevant here. The orchestral music of the opening movement
is far too aggressive, and Barenboim is happier than in the earlier
work, but his own cadenza, as in
K491, isn’t quite
appropriate. The slow movement failed to engage me and the finale,
whilst taken at the correct tempo and has an attempt at wit,
fails entirely for it doesn’t charm. Overall, neither performance
scintillates.
The recording is bright and clear enough but lacks sparkle; it’s
not dull, it simply isn’t alive. For me, the best buy for
the Mozart Concertos is still Geza Anda’s boxed set of
the complete concertos, at bargain price (Deutsche Grammophon
469 510-2). As usual I look into the past for the most intelligent
performances of this music when recommending disks. For
K491 Clara
Haskil, with the French National Orchestra under Cluytens, in
a live performance from 1955, is quite outstanding (Music and
Arts CD863, coupled with a live Beethoven
4th Concerto).
Kathleen Long, exquisite as ever, with the Concertgebouw under
van Beinum on 78s recorded in 1948, is in a mixed programme which
includes
K450, conducted by Boyd Neel (Dutton CDBP 9714).
For a real aristocratic and intelligent performance look no further
than Solomon in K450, K488 and K491 (EMI Classics 353 2112 with
various conductors). For more modern sound, Alfred Brendel, with
the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Mackerras in both works
(Philips 0289 462 6222 (
K491 and
K466) and 0289
470 2872 (
K503 and
K271)), or, indeed, Barenboim’s
earlier CFP recording. For
K503 I only have two recommendations.
For the historical performance Michelangeli, with the Orchestra
Filarmonica “Alessandro Scvarlatti” della RAI di
Napoli under Franco Caracciolo, live in 1957 (Altara ALT 1023
- coupled with a stunning live Rachmaninov
4th Concerto).
For more modern sound there’s Murray Perahia, directing
the English Chamber Orchestra (Sony 074643726726 - coupled with
the early
Concerto K175).
Bob Briggs
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Daniel
Barenboim (piano) 
