How did this peach of a Mozart disc slip through the cracks? No matter, it’s back in the catalog, thanks to Arkivmusic.com’s on-demand reprint program. As a conductor, Zoltan Kocsis favors buoyant tempos, stinging accents, minimum string vibrato, and dominant woodwinds (the bassoons get special attention), while at the keyboard Kocsis’ energetic, often aggressive and frighteningly clear fingerwork is guaranteed to raise a smile, or perhaps a wagging finger. That is, if you can catch your breath!
The K. 459 and K. 453 finales’ rapid-fire soloist/orchestra exchanges toe that delicate line between opera buffa and animated cartoons, while their corresponding slow movements convey their lyrical eloquence within a terser, more forthright framework than usual. By contrast, Kocsis and his forces bring more genial inflection and breadth to the K. 413’s relatively modest dimensions. Whatever these performances lack in lyricism and warmth, they surely evoke the playful side of Mozart’s protean inventive powers. Strongly recommended.
