Piano concertos 19 & 23

Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) & Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens

In just two years, between 1784 and 1786, Mozart composed no less than twelve piano concertos – a staggering number. Often described as one of the most light-hearted and buoyant among these is the Concerto in F major K 459, sometimes called ‘the second Coronation Concerto’. The nickname comes from the fact that Mozart would later choose to perform it, along with the ‘Coronation Concerto’ in D major, during the festivities surrounding the coronation of Emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1790. Its companion work on this fourth disc in Ronald Brautigam’s survey hails from the same period: begun in 1784, the Concerto in A major K 488 was completed in March 1786, at the same time as Mozart was putting the finishing touches to his opera Le nozze di Figaro. Mozart clearly held the work in high regard, and described it as one of his most select compositions ‘which I keep just for myself and an élite circle of music lovers’, and later audiences have agreed with him. Ronald Brautigam has been described as ‘an absolutely instinctive Mozartian… with melodic playing of consummate beauty’ (International Record Review), and he is once again supported by the period orchestra Die Kölner Akademie conducted by Michael Alexander Willens in a partnership which more than one reviewer has termed ‘ideal’.

Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K459
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488

"Het goed op elkaar afgestemde samenspel tussen de piano, een sprankelende Walter kopie, en het niet al te grote orkest is erg mooi. Strijkers en blazers worden bij deze concerten niet zomaar met een begeleidingspartijtje afgescheept, wat door de opnametechnici kundig is vastgelegd. Wat een goede muziek!"
TOM (Tijdschrift Oude Muziek)

"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."
BBC Music Magazine - September 2013 ****

"While I wouldn't always want to hear it like this, Brautigam's performance is certainly refreshing...swiftness is a feature of all the performances here. Rarely have I heard the opening Allegro of K459 so airy and puckish."
Gramophone Magazine - February 2014