Mozart: Piano Concertos KV482 & 491

Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori
65:52
Accent ACC24313

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his series is growing on me more and more; the intimacy of playing these gorgeous pieces one to a part is pleasure enough of itself – the horns and bassoon in the opening of the E flat major concerto (KV 482) are fabulous! There is just enough hint of improvisation in Schoodnerwoerd’s playing to make it seem as if he is making it up as he goes along, thereby communicating some of the excitement of hearing the music for the first time. As with previous releases, there is no hint on the front cover of one of the disc’s other principle attractions, namely a concert aria with piano obbligato, in thias case Vanessa Garcia Simón’s ravishing account of “Non temer, amato bene”; hers is a full voice, and boy can she project it – all the more impressively because she manages that while maintaining absolute purity of pitch; the chromatic scale passages are exceptional! The slight harpsichord soundalike nature of Schoonderwoerd’s Walther copy allows it to cut through the texture without every dominating the sound picture. All in all, this is a delightful disc and I have enjoyed listening to it several times.

Brian Clark