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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol 3 - Zacharias

Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol 3 - Zacharias

MDG Gold  940 1488-6

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical


Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major K.453, Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major K.456

Christian Zacharias (piano)
Orchestre de Chambre Lausanne

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Review by John Broggio - March 4, 2008

A lovely disc of playing.

This, as the title indicates, is the third volume in Zacharias' cycle of the piano concertos. It promises to be an enjoyable prospect (if incomplete due to the first two volumes being released on RBCD only - perhaps a reissue will follow) - one should be aware that this is not performed in the HIP style so widely used today and for those steeped in either the HIP style or period instruments, the rich tone of the Steinway piano (in wonderful condition incidentally) and the vibrato laden strings will come as something of a shock to the ears. For those recoiling in horror, it should be noted that the strings are not heavy (as was the case all too often in the 1960's) but the vibrato is used to round-out the sound (think perhaps Perahia's ECO).

As with many of the great cycles that have gone before, Zacharias is careful in his choice of tempi - they are mainstream from a historical perspective (which these days is almost controversial in itself) but never flagging. Nor is the phrasing anything other than what is best called natural, which means the musical argument is allowed to take on a life of its own in these cases - a joy to both the ear and the mind. Similar to the strings, the woodwind are bright of tone and lithe in timbre. Zacharias directs the Lausanne players with considerable aplomb and all in all, this release must count as a great success. At no stage are any distracting mannerisms heard from Zacharias or his ensemble nor is anything other a (cerebral) smile far from the listener and it would be unreasonable to rate the playing as anything other than very highly.

The sound is, as ever with the 2+2+2 system from MDG, very good but lacking the last ounce of clarity due to the height information being channelled to speakers instead of a conventional 5(.1) set-up.

Copyright © 2008 John Broggio and HRAudio.net

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Sonics (Multichannel):

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