Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488

Géza Anda would have been 90 in 2011 and his anniversary reminded the world of a great loss. Luckily his artistic legacy has been preserved. His performances are characterised by spontaneity and reflection.

This is the very first Philippe Entremont recording, made in 1957 with the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, conducted by his father Jean Entremont. Philippe Entremont was 23 when he made this recording and 54 years on, after hearing the new mastering, he declared “ I listened to the Mozart concertos recording and I felt an extreme emotion, I am really very surprised and definitely happy” This is the first reissue of this release since its original publication.

These performances received global acclaim and remain among the most perfect interpretations of Mozart’s Piano Concertos committed to disc. “Ivan Moravec is a pianist of uncommon gifts and one of the most sympatheic interpreters of Mozart’s music ever to sit at a keyboard.” NPR

In 1961, the visiting orchestra to Salzburg was the Dresden Staatskapelle. The 'magic harp', as it was known, certainly justified its reputation under Franz Konwitschny, who confirmed his own standing as one of the leading representatives of the traditionally 'heavy' style of music-making in the German Classical and Romantic repertory.

Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony was notable for its powerful contrast between darker and lighter orchestral sonorities, and much the same was true of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major K 488, in which the soloist was no less a luminary than Friedrich Gulda, whose playing was remarkable for its subtly contoured interaction with the orchestra but who was also able to bring to the piece a note of virtuosity and, in the Adagio, an overriding calm.

The Staatskapelle’s concert under Konwitschny ended with Strauss’s 'Sinfonia domestica': a vast portrait of the Strauss family drawing on the orchestra’s full palette of tone colours.

Ivan Moravec, now in his 80s and still active, is one of the most highly regarded members of the pianistic elite. His insightful and purely musical way of playing, free of vulgar tricks, is a landmark of style and good taste; his Mozart playing, never exaggerated, is full of sparkle and wit. The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner are completely on the same musical wavelength, a strong unity of concept and vision.

1990s recordings.

This second release in Guild’s series of Historic ‘Three Great Pianists’ recordings features live performances from Alexander Brailowsky, Shura Cherkassky and Rudolf Serkin, recorded between 1945 and 1958, and intriguingly including two performance of Liszt’s virtuoso ‘Don Giovanni’ Fantasy played by Cherkassky. Throughout this CD, here is pianism of a consistently high quality, from three masters of the keyboard from the latter half of the 20th-century. The conductors – Serge Koussevitsky in the Mozart, and Dmitri Mitropoulos in the Richard Strauss - were themselves amongst the greatest to hold senior positions with two great American orchestras, lending artistry to this release which is quite unique.