Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 (1783) [22:44]
Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415 (1783) [25:21]
Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat major, K. 449 (1784) [21:06]
Gottlieb Wallisch (piano)
Piatti Quartet
rec. 15-16 May 2012, Potton Hall, Suffolk, UK.
LINN RECORDS CKD 424 
[69:13]
We’ve come across Hummel’s arrangements of
Mozart’s music for
chamber forces, but with an eye to maximizing his
opportunities for performance, Mozart himself published these three
concertos “either with a large orchestra or a
Quattro”. This composer-approved performance option is
therefore entirely legitimate. Mozart’s own comments on these pieces
in a letter to his father demonstrate the commercial intent behind their
contents, “a happy medium between being too easy and too
difficult… very brilliant, pleasant to the ear, without being
vapid.”
Gottlieb Wallisch’s elegant piano playing and the subtle and
refined touch given to the accompaniment by the Piatti Quartet certainly
make a convincing case for these versions, and I suspect it’s only
really because we’re so used to hearing them in the context of an
orchestra that we might have any cause to rebel against them. No, these
recordings aren’t a substitute to orchestral versions, and you will
never recreate the warmth and richness of a full body of strings from which
the piano can emerge or over which it can float. What you do have here is a
kind of honest clarity and directness of expression which has its own
strengths.
The recording is lively and transparent, with the Potton Hall
acoustic adding a restrained sense of space, preventing dryness but by no
means intruding on a close and intimate balance both between the players and
us as the audience. The balance between sprightly wit and the serene beauty
of Mozart’s slow movements is also nicely held within each concerto,
and contrasts such as the open texture of the opening of
K 415 and
the orchestral ‘tutti’ which answers it come across as a
realistic enough illusion. The sublime
Andante central movement also
has plenty of atmosphere. Hearing such music in this context makes one
realise once again the incredible economy of means with which Mozart was
able to create such musical magic, and these ‘pocket’ versions
of such delightful works are worth having as an education in the ‘less
is more’ school if nothing else.
Is there any competition around for these works in this setting? Not
a huge amount, though you might have come across a Naxos disc, 8.557881,
performed by Robert Blocker and the Biava Quartet, which has exactly the
same programme. The opening movement in
K 414 is a bit uninvolving by
comparison with the generally more brisk Wallisch/Piatti combination, but
the musicianship on this Naxos disc is pretty high in general. With an ounce
or two less accuracy in intonation with the unison string passages and less
character from the soloist I don’t however prefer it to the Linn
recording.
With fine SACD sound and very good stereo this is just one more
reason to invest in familiar but much loved works just one more time, or at
least, until the next must-have orchestral cycle takes hold. Your mind may
turn its nose up at the thought of these concertos with a mere string
quartet as backing, but once you get your hands on it and allow these fine
performances start to infuse your soul, they will more than likely take over
and convince your brain to stop griping and enjoy.
Dominy Clements
Masterwork Index:
Mozart
piano
concertos
