Mozart and Yellow Warblers: Recent Performances of the Piano Concertos on Disc (Part I of a Series) by Seth Lachterman
Recorded Performances of Leif Ove Andsnes, Jonathan Biss, Derek Han, Vassily Primakov, Rudolf Buchbinder, David Fray and Emanuel Ax.
(Leif Ove Andsnes, Mozart Concertos Nos. 9 and18; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, EMI)
(Jonathan Biss, Mozart Concertos Nos. 21 and 22; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, EMI)
(Derek Han, Mozart Complete Concertos; Paul Freeman, Philharmonia Orchestra, Brilliant Classics)
(Vassily Primakov, Mozart Piano Concertos, Vol. 1: Nos. 24-27; Scott Yoo, Odense Symphony Orchestra)
(Rudolf Buchbinder, Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 22-24; Wiener Philharmoniker, DVD, EuroArts)
(David Fray, "David Fray Records Mozart," Concertos Nos. 22 and 25; Jaap van Zweden, Philharmonia Orchestra, film directed by Bruno Monsaingeon, DVD,Virgin Classics)
(Emanuel Ax, Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 17 and 18; Pinchas Zukerman, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, RCA Victrola)
Companion analyses:
Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. New York:W.W. Norton & Company, 1970, 1998.
Girdlestone, Cuthbert. Mozart and His Piano Concertos. New York:Dover Publications, 1964.
Part 1: Leif Ove Andsnes, Derek Han and Emanuel Ax
While spending almost twenty years closely listening to Bach's more than two hundred cantatas bewildered some of my friends would decry my project and say, "They all sound alike - how can you tell them apart?" These people, sophisticated music lovers who simply did not care for the Bach vocal repertory, refused to admit they glossed over these works in a superficial way. To my ears, of course, each and every cantata had uniqueness that clearly articulated it from the rest of the pack. Yes, there were many structural similarities, and Bach's musical language is the unifying tongue, but, to say Bach's cantatas all sounded alike seemed heretical, born of inferior taste and auditory skills. Years later, when I started watching birds, I came upon the family of yellow warblers, illustrated in Roger Tory Peterson's definitive field guide. Boggled by the subtle markings which distinguish these birds, it seemed that page after page pictured the same damned bird, and I recalled my friends' remarks about Bach's vocal works. The thirty-odd subspecies of yellow warblers, all tiny creatures with a mix of yellow, white and dark streaks, seemed like a pattern puzzle on an I.Q. test: "Which bird doesn't belong with the rest?" or "What will the next bird in the sequence look like?" I passed over the warblers and contented myself to distinguish a black crow from a blue heron.
