MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Support us financially by purchasing this from

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Keyboard Concerto in D Major, K. 107, No. 1 [13:51]
Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Divertimento in C Major, Hob XIV:4 [9:32]
Divertimento in F Major, Hob XIV:9 [5:52]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Keyboard Concerto in E - Flat Major, K. 107, No. 3 [9:59]
Joseph HAYDN
Divertimento in C Major, Hob.XIV:7 [8:02]
Divertimento in C Major, Hob.XIV:8 [8:55]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Keyboard Concerto in G Major, K. 107, No. 2 [9:11]
Ensemble Castor (Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt (violin), Lukas Praxmarer (violin), Peter Trefflinger (cello), Erich Traxler (fortepiano))
rec. Schubertsaal, Schloß Kremsegg, Austria, 2017
DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI 88985432642 [65:50]

Mozart’s three Concertos K. 107 belong to the category of other composers’ music that he arranged for different instrumental combinations. Here we find him around 1772, arranging three of Johann Christian Bach’s Keyboard Sonatas Op. 5, Nos. 2, 3 and 4. I must say that, whilst I admire the originals, Mozart brings the music to life. My knowledge of these works has been limited to the recording made by Lars-Ulrich Mortensen and London Baroque for Harmonia Mundi (HMA1901395). I prefer Traxler’s choice of fortepiano over the harpsichord favoured by Mortensen. It increases definition between the sound of the keyboard and the strings. These three concertos were not included in the first complete edition of Mozart’s published works. It is for this reason that they have not been included in his canon of numbered piano concertos. I do feel that this more delicate music suits the chamber format presented here, and as originally composed. The piano would be somewhat lost in the traditional orchestral context of his numbered concertos.
 
My knowledge of the four Divertimentos from the collection of Haydn’s Hob. XIV is sketchier. I can remember, I think, having some of them on an old LP, but I have no modern recording of them. That being said, they have a quality that makes them sound familiar. They were composed in the 1760s and 1770s with the fourth, and seemingly most popular, dating from 1764. They were composed, as the Mozart pieces, for keyboard, two violins and bass. Ensemble Castor have followed the example of the numbers 7, 8 and 9 and interpreted the bass as a cello, the instrumented indicated in the other divertimentos. I cannot remember what keyboard instrument was used on the LP, whether the stipulated harpsichord, or a piano as employed for this recording. Whatever the instrument, the fortepiano used here fits well with this music, making this a pleasing experience. If I had to choose, I would even say that I preferred the Haydn to the Mozart.

Ensemble Castor are excellent throughout. Their wonderful interpretation breathes new life into this music. Whether you are a Mozart or Haydn fan, there is much to enjoy here, so much so that I have hardly had this disc off my player since I first heard it. The music is complimented by ideal recorded sound as well as exemplary booklet notes by the ensemble’s leader Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt. It all makes this a most welcome addition to the recording catalogue and to my collection.
 
Stuart Sillitoe

 

 



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing