Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K414

The London Chamber Orchestra, the UK's oldest chamber orchestra, has nurtured the new and paid homage to the traditional for 88 years. For 22 years, as Principal Conductor and Music Director, Christopher Warren-Green has brought together the inspirational musicians and repertoire for which LCO is renowned. The remarkable acoustic and intimate ambience of St. John's, Smith Square, its London home, enable LCO, the only chamber orchestra resident in London, to give vibrant performances and establish a close rapport with its audiences.The recordings on the LCO Live label, in partnership with Signum Classics, are the result of this happy marriage of orchestra and venue.

Christopher Warren-Green, LCO Music Director & Principal Conductor is a highly experienced musician and one of the UK's most engaging conductors who recently featured in BBC TV's Maestro.

"…everyone on stage seems to be having a whale of a time and this feeds into a performance in which the music sounds new-minted" The Guardian

"pristine pianism of Tan with exquisite articulation and colouring" Glasgow Herald (on Melvyn Tan)

A fixture on the music scene for more than six decades, pianist Leon Fleisher releases his first two-hand concerto recording in 40 years.

The new recording is comprised of a trio of Mozart concertos recorded with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra: no. 23 in A Major, K. 488; no. 12 in A Major, K. 414; and no. 7 in F Major for two pianos, K. 242, for which he is joined by his wife Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher. Founded in 1945, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has held a top position in the international orchestral world for more than 60 years. Under founder and director Karl Mnchinger, the ensemble had developed and cultivated the repertoire of the Viennese Classicists.

No, not another Mozart piano concerto disc! No indeed, for this pioneering recording gives us intimate, almost domestic versions of three of the composer’s masterpieces, versions that have scarcely been played, let alone set to disc, in the modern concert era. Moreover they give us the opportunity to hear Susan Tomes show her mettle in strong light as concerto soloist—and bring to a wider repertoire the distinct communicative magic that has made her one of the foremost chamber pianists of today.

Mozart retains from the homogeneity of the strings a sense of intricacy and allure, as well conjuring the glanceexchanging thrill of chamber-music-making, all of which heightens the piquancy of the dialogue and confrontation between piano and band, while setting the rich sonorities of the piano into greater relief.

You thought you knew these wonderful, innovative and energetic pieces, but hear afresh and think again!

one-time protégé of Arthur Rubinstein, pianist Janina Fialkowska’s artistry is all the more astonishing considering her return to the concert stage in 2004 following the removal of an aggressive tumour in her left arm. For this recording, she joins the Chamber Players of Canada to perform arrangements of Mozart’s piano concertos K. 413 – 415 for piano and string quintet. Her 2004 recording of Chopin piano concertos with the Chamber Players was greeted with unanimous praise, and her recent performance of the Mozart concertos prompted The Toronto Star’s music critic John Terauds to declare, “ Fialkowska and her partners lent the evening intimacy … they breathed into the music a lithe vibrancy that can often elude the big orchestra … Reducing the players to six … highlighted every effect that Mozart had penned into the score. These performers are scheduled to sit down and record these concertos soon. If the concert is any indication, this will be a Mozart disc to treasure.”