Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.9 & 25 (K.271 'Jeunehomme' & K.503) Alfred Brendel

• Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat, K.271 - Jeunehomme
• 1 1. Allegro 10:39
• 2 2. Andantino 13:00
• 3 3. Rondeau (Presto) - Menuetto 10:48
• Piano Concerto No.25 in C, K.503
• 4 1. Allegro maestoso 15:35
• 5 2. Andante 08:12
• 6 3. Allegretto 09:24
• Total Runtime 01:07:38

Info zu Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.9 & 25 (K.271 'Jeunehomme' & K.503)

Although it is not one of Mozart's most famous piano concertos, K. 271 in E-Flat is one of his most extraordinary. It is in many ways the first great piano concerto, in the modern sense of the term, and Mozart was just 21 when he wrote it. Melodically rich and full of imaginative touches -- like the gorgeous, gentle minuet that lies in the middle of the rollicking finale -- the concerto is already vintage Mozart. Ironically, though, it takes musicians of real sagacity to realize its youthful charm. Alfred Brendel, now in his 70s, does not sparkle in this work as he did on his previous recordings, but there is a quiet beauty to his playing now that seems absolutely right. And while he has pared down his sound, there is even more color and subtlety of shading than before. This sensitivity is even more apparent in the C Major Concerto, K. 503, a work bursting with brilliant pageantry. Brendel seems uninterested in the orchestra's pomp, etching out his part with lyrical dignity -- a touching and dramatic effect. Sir Charles Mackerras is a superb partner, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra plays with heart. Not your usual Mozart, then, and all the better for it.

'Bet I’m not the only one who had long thought the nickname for the K271 piano concerto written by the 21-year-old Mozart referred to it having been penned by the “young man” genius. When in fact it was the actual last name of a female French pianist for whom Mozart wrote the concerto! Being so early in his ouvre, this concerto has been recorded previously on the harpsichord, which is my personal preference. But Brendel does a fine job of delivering the delicate passages as well as making use of the piano’s greater emotional range in the unusual and extensive ten-minute long Rondo-Finale. This is the only one of his concertos in which Mozart allows the piano soloist to introduce the opening theme of the first movement. No. 25 is of course a more virtuosic work, and both concertos have extensive improvised cadenzas. The piano/orchestral balance is just right. I found these among the most enjoyable Mozart piano concerto recordings I have ever auditioned.' (John Sunier, Audiophile Audition)

'Brendel's Mozart has an instinctive rightness and authority rare among pianists of any era. Compared with his Seventies recordings, with Marriner and the ASMF, these new performances are that much more reflective, the tone often leaner but even more subtly coloured than before.' (BBC Music Magazine)

Alfred Brendel, piano
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

Recorded at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, July 2001

Alfred Brendel - Pianist
Alfred Brendel’s place among the greatest musicians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is assured. Renowned for his masterly interpretations of the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann and Liszt, he is one of the indisputable authorities in musical life today.

During the 1960s, he became the first pianist ever to record the entire piano works of Beethoven (on the Vox label), a set which, in the opinion of one critic, still contains “some of the finest Beethoven ever recorded”. In the 1970s, Brendel returned to Beethoven with a complete cycle of the piano sonatas on the Philips label for which he has recorded exclusively since 1969. Brendel’s discography is now among the most extensive of any pianist, reflecting a repertoire of solo, chamber and orchestral works by the major composers from the central European tradition from Bach through to Schoenberg.

Among the countless prizes he has won (sometimes on more than one occasion) are the Grand Prix of the Liszt Society, the Gramophone Award, Grand Prix du Disque, the Japan Record Academy Award, the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, the Grand Prix de l’Academie du Disque Français, the Edison Prize and the British Music Trades Association Prize to name but a few. Important musical awards include the Léonie Sonning Prize, the Siemens Prize, the Prix Venezia, and in 2009 the Praemium Imperiale.

He was made an Honorary KBE in 1989 for his “outstanding services to music in Britain”, awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 2004, received the highest rank in the Order of Merit of the German Federal Republic in 2007, and holds honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Yale, Exeter and Dublin.

He is a recipient of the Hans von Bülow medal of the Berlin Philharmonic and was made an Honorary Member of the Wiener Philharmoniker in 1998, an honour conferred on only two other pianists, Emil von Sauer and Wilhelm Backhaus, since this orchestra’s foundation in 1842. Alfred Brendel has begun giving illustrated lectures at musical institutions and universities around the world on musical subjects and issues that have always been central to his own insatiable interpretative quest.

His farewell concert took place with the Vienna Philharmonic on December 18, 2008, which was recently voted one of the 100 greatest cultural moments of the last ten years by The Daily Telegraph.

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