One wonders if Clifford Curzon ever played Mozart’s last concerto to his own satisfaction. He recorded the work three times, but rejected each version for release. Two of them appeared posthumously. His most convincing reading, though, is captured in this live 1979 Prom concert. Curzon has clearly pondered each phrase, weighed every balance and dynamic, and timed every accent for specific expressive purpose. Yet his sensitivity betrays no hint of self-consciousness. Barenboim takes care to clarify Mozart’s delicious writing for woodwinds, but his conducting suffers from iron poor blood in the first two movements. At least the finale dances with keenly lit inflection. Barenboim and Curzon make a winning team in Mozart’s two-piano concerto, achieving rare synchronicity in the final movement cadenza and dovetailing each other’s phrases like a long-married couple who finish each other’s sentences. Still, we can readily identify who’s who: Barenboim’s brightly projected lines contrast with Curzon’s darker sonority and more liberal use of the sustain pedal.
In Mozart’s K. 448 Sonata for Two Pianos (recorded at a 1960 Aldeburgh concert) Curzon and Benjamin Britten operate as one lively brain and four hands loaded for bear, especially in the precipitate outer movements. By contrast, the central movement floats on a relaxed, operatically inflated cushion, propelled by the intensity with which Britten shapes accompanimental figures. The mono miking for the sonata is a bit dry but still quite listenable, while the later performances have excellent broadcast quality sound. All in all, a valuable addition to Curzon’s parsimonious Mozartean legacy on disc.
