Piano concertos nos. 19 & 27

" Grimaud's playing and conducting of the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra are brisk and boisterous, and her approach is direct and energetic ... She saves her most expressive playing for the Allegretto of K. 459, which is an amiable diversion, and the above-mentioned Adagio of K. 488, which in Grimaud's hands is a dark and troubling exploration of the soul".

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"These two concertos just precede the final famous ones, but are equally fascinating ... the Cleveland wind are superbly evocative of Mozart's night-time vision".

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"Det er nydeligt, og The Cleveland Orchestra, som hun også dirigerer fra flyglet, spiller fornemt, men der er pointer og eftertanker, som jeg savner, selv om tempi virker rigtige, og Mitsuko Uchidas spil ikke kan kaldes overfladisk".

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"Ronald Brautigam har ladet flyglet og den store romantiske klang blive hjemme og begiver sig her ud i Mozarts to klaverkoncerter ... hvor alle betoninger og bevægelser har deres egen friske berettigelse. Brautigams lettere metalliske tag på Mozart er overrumplende, befriende og samtidig helt indlysende".

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"Vurdering: Tipp" - "Nichts wirkt hier extremistisch forciert, statdessen spielt sie allen Phrasen mit rundem Ton aus, wird jedes Detail organisch in den Gesamtzusammenhang eingebettet, woran auch das Kammerorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks einen grossen Anteil hat".

"Det fungerer ikke rigtigt for Hélène Grimaud på hendes nye cd ... Når man ser bort fra Grimauds intense, men maniske hyperventilering, savner man også det, der gør Mozart til andet og mere end letfordøjelig klisterstads: solistens evne til at læse indad og af sit fulde hjerte give Mozart det, der gør ham lykkelig - sin sjæl".

"Vurdering: BBC music concerto choice" - "There is a pearly sheen to her tone and an elegance to her articulation that evokes the operatic character of Mozart's concertos ... Some may find Uchida's tempos in both finales a trifle reserved, but with such style, such probing artistry as this, who's to complain?".

"Piemontesi pays avid attention to the tonal calibration of every note and phrase. Andrew Manze matches him by controlling the orchestral balance to a T and choosing tempos that suit the music without having to reinvent the wheel. The orchestral playing is precise and fashionably lean. The recorded sound quality is excellent".

"Die Qualitäten seines [Piemontesis] fast noblen Anschlag, die Fähigkeit zu geperlten, melodisch geformten Läufen, die Mischung aus Gelassenheit und Feinheit - all das findet sich auch auf dieser CD. Die Schotten spielen vielleicht eine Spur verhaltener als erwartet, doch das Gleichgewicht zwischen Solist und Orchester bleibt jederzeit gewahrt".

"Brautigam's playing in this sadly undervalued concerto is faultless throughout, and the finale - a real contrapuntal tour de force - is dazzling ... These are fine performances, but without always plumbing the music's depths".