Mozart - The Piano Concertos - Uchida/ECO/Tate

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fabulous set

I don't think this marvellous 8CD set by Mitsuko Uchida and the ECO can be bettered. It is not quite a complete recording of all the piano concerti, but incorporates all of the concerti on the four double CDs issued under the Philips Duo label. Only a few of the very early concerti are missing (nos. 1-4, 7 and 10 to be precise) and all the great ones are here.

I have enthused about Uchida's Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas and about the Concerti issued as Duo discs. Uchida has a real empathy with Mozart, I think, and you get the sense of love and joy in the music combined with magnificent musicianship making this a marvellous set and outstanding value. She is crisp and sensitive in the quicker outer movements and has the power when needed to play as the orchestra's equal. In the slow movements Uchida's beautiful tone is a joy and she judges the mood perfectly, making them truly beautiful without a hint of sentimentality or Mozartkugel-flavoured kitsch. This is not easy in such over-exposed movements as the Andante of K467, for example, but she is absolutely exemplary in her empathy and restraint.

The English Chamber Orchestra are ideal in this repertoire. It is no coincidence that both Uchida and the great Murray Perahia chose them for their Mozart recordings. The orchestra - here under Jeffrey Tate - are vigorous, supple and responsive and again avoid any intrusion of the saccharine nonsense which mars some Mozart performances. You can almost hear the collective grins of the orchestra during some of Mozart's more outrageous show-off finales, and there is a fabulous understanding between them and Uchida who worked with the ECO a lot.

It seems to me that the only close competitor to this series is Murray Perahia's Complete Mozart Piano Concerti (also with the ECO) which are equally good, but at the time of writing weigh in at well over £75. And it's worth saying that on Radio 3's Building A Library the reviewer said that although he couldn't imagine even Mozart playing Mozart more beautifully than Murray Perahia, he still chose Uchida's recording from this set of the Jeunehomme Concerto (No. 9, K271) as the best available. I'm not arguing with either part of that. In fact I've ended up with both Perahia's and Uchida's sets and love both, but at this price you simply can't go wrong with the Uchida set.

Mitsuko Uchida is, in my view anyway, one of the truly great Mozart players of our generation, and this is her at her magnificent best. Recommended without reservation.