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Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 K. 453 on Disc · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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you This is Jed Disler, and I welcome you to
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The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide
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to piano recordings. And the topic of this episode
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is going to be Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17
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in G Major, Cursal No. 453. We're going to talk
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a little bit about the concerto and... talk about
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some recordings that i've enjoyed for years and
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years the work was completed in april of seventeen
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eighty four and mozart composed it for his student
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barbara who was the niece of a Salzburg court
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official. And not only was she apparently a very
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fine pianist, but also she was a composer. I
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would love to get to know some of her scores,
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if one can find them. Anyway, Mozart was very
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impressed with her talent, and he even made a
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sketch of her in the margin of one of his scores.
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I've never seen that sketch. But it is true that
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Barbara Ployer... gave a performance of the G
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major concerto in Vienna in June of 1784 only
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a few months after the work was composed and
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at that same concert Mozart joined his protégé
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to perform his sonata for two pianos. The G major
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concerto is scored for flute, two oboes, two
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bassoons, two horns, and strings. And some commentators
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call the opening first movement theme march -like.
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I'm not going to sing it to you. To my ears,
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the march rhythm is more suggestive than it is
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assertive, and it starts out in a rather unassuming
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way, but then listen to how Mozart expands upon
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and develops this theme and takes it through
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all kinds of fascinating changes throughout the
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movement. The slow movement is one of Mozart's
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most palpably operatic creations in all of his
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concertos. And the finale starts off as a theme
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with variations. But as the music develops, you
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get an increase of the tempo to presto. And this
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presto finale is like one of Mozart's madcap
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operatic finales, where everyone is scurrying
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about and singing simultaneously. Although this
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concerto is quite accessible on the surface and
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Easy to follow in terms of form, the music itself
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conveys such a wide array of moods and emotions.
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So let's talk about recordings. The very first
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recording of this piece, so far as I know, was
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made in 1928 for the Columbia label with Ernest
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von Dachnani leading the Budapest Philharmonic
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from the piano. And it's a charming recording
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in its way. It's not what we would consider proper
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Mozart -style circa 2026. And the ensemble playing
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can be a bit touch -and -go, to put it kindly.
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Also, Dagnani provides his own rather un -Mozartian
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cadenza. But you cannot deny that he was a natural
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virtuoso, and it's kind of a kick to hear this
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recording. However, the recording made nine years
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later in 1937 with Edwin Fisher conducting his
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own chamber orchestra from the piano has far
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more disciplined ensemble work, and the awesome
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variety of touch and articulation coming from
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Edwin Fisher's fingers is just a joy to behold.
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And this performance really does hold up. beautifully,
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even almost 90 years after it was recorded. Among
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Rudolf Serkin's several recorded versions of
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Kershaw 453, I think the strongest by far is
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the collaboration with Alexander Schneider conducting
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the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. I think this
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was recorded in 1965 or 66, maybe a little earlier,
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I can't remember. but it's a performance so full
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of character and emphatic action. accents and
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stresses that are never hard -hitting and heavy.
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They always propel the music forward. And I especially
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like the second variation in the finale where
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the tempo ever so slightly relaxes so that the
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first desk wind soloists can really strut their
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stuff. And Alexander Schneider is on hand for
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a recording with the English Chamber Orchestra.
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where he recorded the work with Rudolf Serkin's
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son, Peter Serkin. And this was part of a cycle
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of the six concertos, numbers 14, 15, 16, 17,
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18, 19. This performance is slightly gentler
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than the Rudolf Serkin performance. It's more
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lyrical and lighter in texture and perhaps less
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driven in the outer movements. I used to be enamored
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of this recording, but... I find that the Rudolph
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Circuit recording has a little more cojones to
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it. I mean, they're both very beautiful. Since
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I'm talking about the English Chamber Orchestra,
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you know, it occurred to me that this orchestra
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was involved with quite a few Mozart concerto
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recordings and cycles. We might as well go down
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the list of pianists who recorded 453 with the
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English Chamber Orchestra. There was Daniel Bauernbohm,
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whose 1967 recording has great exuberance in
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the outer movements, and he really pushes that
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third movement coda to the limits. But a lot
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of detail gets lost in the orchestral execution.
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There are more than a few slapdash and imprecise
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moments in the orchestral tutis. In fairness,
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I have to say that Daniel Barenboim re -recorded
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this concerto, I think, in the early 1990s or
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late 1980s. conducting the berlin philharmonic
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from the piano and this recording was a tremendous
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improvement on every level orchestrally pianistically
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and sonically it's quite an inspired I think
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it's one of the best things that Barenboim ever
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did as a pianist. The English Chamber Orchestra
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also are featured in the cycle with the pianist
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Murray Pariah, who conducts from the piano. And
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the level of chamber interplay and repartee is
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just marvelous and highly sophisticated with
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great give and take. And Pariah always knows
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when to accompany and when to be forward in the
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mix. The English Chamber Orchestra also are featured
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in the cycle with Mitsuko Ushida. I find her
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interpretation of 453 very precise and refined,
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but rather underplayed and held back with a lot
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of predominantly soft playing as if maybe she's
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channeling period instruments. And although the
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dynamic range does open up in her remake, that
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she did conducting the Cleveland Orchestra from
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the piano. I find that recording to be even more
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careful and even four squares, so I don't really
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recommend these two. I would say with the first
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one with Jeffrey Tate, I respect it more than
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I love it. Alfred Brendel. is as serious -minded
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and meticulous a Mozart player as you can find.
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I miss the variety of inflection and the potential
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for ornamentation that you get from other pianists,
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but he has a lot of authority, there's no doubt
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about it. He recorded 453 twice for the Phillips
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label, once with Neville Mariner and the Academy
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of St. Martin in the Fields, and then he recorded
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it with Charles McCarris. the Scottish Chamber
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Orchestra. But the Brendel recording that I respond
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to the most was his very first recording of the
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piece. It was made, I think, in 1959 with Paul
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Engerer conducting the Chamber Orchestra of the
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Vienna State Opera. This is a very vividly recorded
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performance with great instrumental detail and
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character full first desk soloist The orchestra
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is really in your face in a marvelous way. Also,
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Brendel plays the piano continuo under the opening
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orchestral ritornello. Some pianists do that,
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but others don't. Maybe Brendel was the first
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to do that on record. I'm not sure. But I find
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that this first recording with Paul Angerer is
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wonderfully incisive and texturally... much more
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interesting than what he does in the Phillips
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remakes, at least to my ears. And speaking of
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the Phillips label, of course we have to talk
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about Decca, because Phillips no longer exists,
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but these things all came out on Phillips originally,
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so, you know, I'm kind of stuck there in my head,
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I'm afraid. I just re -listened to Zoltan Koscius
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conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra in
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453. Very interesting and engaging performance.
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He favors really buoyant tempos and stinging
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accents. There's minimum string vibrato, and
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the woodwinds are to the fore, especially with
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the bassoons. You know, Mozart just loved writing
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great bassoon parts in his piano concertos. And
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cautious... is very energetic, sometimes aggressive.
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His finger work is uncommonly clear. I feel that
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the performance sort of toes a line between upper
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buffa and animated cartoons. Sometimes when I'm
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listening, I can barely catch my breath. You
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do get more tempo normalcy in the early 1960s
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recording with Arthur Rubinstein. and Alfred
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Wallenstein is conducting. The tempos are well
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chosen and there's beautiful textural transparency.
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One might argue that the piano is a bit prominent
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in the mix, which I suspect was more Rubinstein's
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doing than what the producers wanted, but it's
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still a very fine G major concerto. I was happy
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to reconnect with it. Rubinstein really doesn't
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get his propers as a Mozart player, probably
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because he recorded next to nothing of the Mozart
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solo piano works, but he always played certain
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concertos throughout his career. But for a more
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equal soloist and conductor partnership, you
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have to go to Andras Schiff and Shondor Vech.
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and their outer movement tempos in 453 are more
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deliberate than usual, yet the attention to detail
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and the perpetually singing quality of the music
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making really holds your attention, and I have
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to say this performance has grown on me over
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the years. It took me a while to get used to
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it, but I'm very convinced. Nicholas Horningcourt
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conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in a recording
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with the piano soloist Lang Lang. And since it's
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Horningcourt, you can expect minimum string vibrato
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and some exaggerated point making. And Lang Lang...
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plays very beautifully on the surface, but some
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of his phrase shaping and his tapering of dynamics
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gets kind of predictable and even generic over
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the course of the performance. You wind up being
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able to predict what he will do each time. If
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anything, the Vienna Philharmonic plays much
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more full out and naturally. for Maurizio Pollini
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conducting them from the piano. And all of the
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orchestral lines are very clear without horn
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and chords underlining and point making. And
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Pollini's phrasing is just so natural and subtle,
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much more than Lang Lang. Although you do hear
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Pollini humming at the keyboard, you know, that
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can get very irritating. He was notorious for
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that. His scales and arpeggios, are as clear
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as crystal. Some may think this performance is
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a bit slick but I enjoy it a lot. Among the various
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period instrument recordings of 453, the one
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with Robert Levin and Christopher Hogwood conducting
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stands out for Robert Levin's brilliant ornaments
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and his improvised flourishes, although the more
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conservative forte piano work from Malcolm Bilson
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has the superior orchestral advantage of John
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Eliot Gardner and his English Baroque soloists.
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This is a marvelous recording. I think it's,
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by and large, my favorite of the period instrument
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recordings. And here, I especially love Malcolm
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Bilson's use of the moderator pedal in the slow
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movement, which creates a really ghostly effect.
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Really beautiful. Next... I want to talk about
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three recordings that use modern instruments
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but in a more period performance style to various
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extents. I like very much the recording with
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pianist Orly Shaham and her husband, David Robertson,
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conducting the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
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You do get some of the precepts of period performance
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in terms of string vibrato, but you also get
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the forward winds, and there are really cool
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shifts in voicing on repeated phrases. Very lovely
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and well thought out performance. Then there
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are two recordings that appeared on EMI, now
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Warner, of course. I keep saying EMI, even though
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we all know it's Warner. And these appeared in
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close succession in the 2000s, I think 2005 and
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2007, something like that. One of them featured
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Piotr Andrzejewski conducting the Scottish Chamber
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Orchestra. And this is a performance of great
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finesse and consideration, although I find the
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textures a bit... blended and less differentiated
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than I would like. And the slow movement is just
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a little bit too static for my taste. But I hear
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more character and timbral diversity and adventurous
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ornaments from Leef Ove Ansnes and the Netherlands
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Chamber Orchestra. who he conducts from the piano.
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The slow movement here is on the fast side, and
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it may not have the operatic weight that you
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will get in the next recording I discuss. But
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I find that a lot of the spontaneous dynamic
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inflections and climactic build -ups very convincing.
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There's a real freshness of detail, and even
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the almost breakneck tempos in the third movement
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keep on the rail. Well, by the skin of their
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teeth. teeth. But like I said, there's a freshness
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and originality that keeps me interested and
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entertained throughout this recording. And shouldn't
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great art be entertaining? I think so. However,
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for chamber dimensions with more string vibrato
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and more alertness and vivaciousness and great
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ensemble discipline and character all over the
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place. The recording with the pianist Maria João
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Pires with Claudio Abado conducting the Chamber
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Orchestra of Europe has held up tremendously
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well. This is a recording that stems from live
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performances in Ferrara, I think in 1995. So
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you get this sense of occasion along with the
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benefits of... really unnoticeable post -production
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editing, and marvelously buoyant outer movements,
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and a slow movement that is appropriately operatic,
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but without the static or dragging qualities
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that you hear in some other recordings of the
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slow movement. So, my top choices for 453 on
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record. For the historic recording, you have
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to pick Edwin Fischer because that's unique and
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just so lovable. For the period instrument recording,
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Malcolm Bilson and John Eliot Gardner. For period
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-style modern instruments, you have Leif Ove
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Ansnes and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. And
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probably I would have to put Maria Joao Pires
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and Claudio Abaro at the top of this very distinctive
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list of many fine recordings. However, when no
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one is looking, I'm going to sneak in Rudolf
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Zirkin and Alexander Schneider. This is Jed Disler,
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and you've been listening to The Piano Maven,
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your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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And I have put sound samples for a lot of these
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recordings in our episode description, so you
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can take a listen and see if you agree with me
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or maybe you disagree with me. Or maybe you will
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want to explore these performances further. I
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hope you do. It's such a wonderful concerto,
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and we are spoiled for choice on disc. Until
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next time and our next episode, this is Jed Disler,
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and stay well.