This release must be heard by all fans of amazing piano playing. Michelangeli was one of those artists who was a law unto himself, offering pianism of such scrupulous perfection that at times it could sound almost frightening. It’s worth the price of the disc simply to hear his trills in the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13, or his phrasing in the Adagio of No. 23. Unlike Bryce Morrison, whose booklet notes typically avoid revealing anything terribly useful about the performances as a whole, I also do not find the Haydn concerto too cold. Its precision doesn’t preclude poetry or fire, especially in the finale. However, newcomers to these readings or non-pianophiles may find themselves disappointed, for the simple reason that there’s more to this music than just the piano part, important as it obviously must be.
EMI a bit deceptively lists the publication date of the two Mozart concertos as 1985 on the tray card, but they were recorded way back in 1953. The sound is listenable but wiry and shrill mono–and more to the point, the orchestra is atrocious. Trumpets and drums have only a ghostly presence in Concerto No. 13 (they’re optional, but if you’re going to use them…), and the only thing more terrible than the fact that we can’t hear the winds is what happens when we can. Fans of the pianist aren’t going to care, and since this is an artist-based series in the first place I can recommend (and rate) the disc accordingly. If you want great Mozart, though, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
