Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 6 in B flat major K238 (1776) [20:01]
Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major K246 ‘Lützow’ (1776) [22:32]
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major K271 ‘Jeunehomme’ (1777) [32:48]
Angela Hewitt (piano)
Orchestra da Camera di Mantova/Carlo Fabiano (leader)
rec. 30 November, 1-2 December 2010, Das Kulturzentrum Grand Hotel, Bobbiaco,
Italy
HYPERION CDA67840 [75:23] 
Fans of Angela Hewitt and the high quality Hyperion label will be greatly
warmed by the prospect of a complete recording of Mozart’s piano concertos,
and this is volume one of what looks like becoming a very special set indeed.
First impressions are of a superbly balanced recording, Hewitt’s favoured
Fazioli instrument full and rounded in tone, the orchestra light and full
of elegant phrasing.
My own favourite set of the Mozart Piano Concertos has long been that with
Murray Perahia and the English Chamber Orchestra available on Sony Classics.
This cycle has that intangible ‘desert island’ quality which satisfies on
just about every level, allowing peace of mind that you never really need
another version of these great works. Perahia’s set also has the same three
concertos on a single disc, and even though the recordings date from 1977-1984
they still sound nigh on perfect to me, but comparison with this new recording
does show some patina of age, with Hewitt’s pert and lively piano tone somewhat
less fat and hazy than Perahia’s. Hyperion’s balance is a bit more up-front,
the acoustic less of a factor in the general perspective of sound, but still
with plenty of air in the sound. The advantage is one of greater detail with
a little less grandeur, still maintaining Mozart’s beautiful moulding of space
through sound and having a full dynamic range but with a more intimate overall
picture.
As with her marvellous Bach
recordings, Angela Hewitt has written full and eminently readable notes for
this release. She admits “to having once considered the early concertos not
very interesting, but having now taken [K238] into my repertoire I have changed
my mind completely.” Angela Hewitt’s commitment is always beyond doubt, and
even where certain musical sequences or transitions are arguably less interesting
her shaping of phrases and sense of direction and purpose are always equally
in evidence. She doesn’t seek to impose drama or intensity where none is intended,
leaving room to make crucial musical points to stunning effect. She uses Mozart’s
own cadenzas, improvising with poetry and sensitive reserve where the music
demands this.
This isn’t the kind of recording which demands picking over details. Angela
Hewitt’s Mozart is uncontroversial, and even where a more personal aspect
of interpretation creeps in she has a tendency to explain her thinking in
the notes, such as with the mildly slower final solo statement of the rondo
theme in K238; “giving time to ornament it more fully, before the orchestra
regains the momentum.” Lack of controversy and adherence to ‘convention’ does
not however equate with dullness. All of these movements and the very special
ones such as the beautiful Andantino in K271 have that sense
of freshly minted discovery which we all seek, and the alert ear will pick
up all of those subtleties which make Mozart – that most difficult of composers
to perform really well – a genuinely magical experience.
I had thought never to require a new set of the Mozart Piano Concertos
to go alongside Murray Perahia, though there are of course plenty of fine
recordings elsewhere, such as Andras Schiff on Decca, Daniel Barenboim and
Mitsuko Uchida with the ECO on Warner Classics just to name a few. I’m not
one for whom any one musician ‘can do no wrong’, but in this case I am happy
to admit to falling head over heels for Hewitt’s Mozart concertos, and wild
horses will not prevent me from collecting the entire set.
Dominy Clements
A very exciting prospect indeed.