Keith Jarrett’s Mozart will be familiar to anyone who purchased his first foray into this music on ECM, containing Piano Concertos Nos. 21, 23 and 27. His cool, laid back style will not appeal to anyone looking for the music’s sometimes turbulent emotional subtext, nor does he show much interest in the more dramatic aspects of the sonata style. On the other hand, his playing is so euphonious, and his interaction with Dennis Russell Davies so spontaneously assured, that it’s probably fair to say that these performances succeed in establishing their own parameters in this music. The excellently integrated recording certainly helps, with the piano ideally balanced against the orchestra. This allows the Stuttgarter’s excellent wind soloists to really shine in dialogue with the soloist, particularly in Concertos Nos. 17 and 20. It may seem paradoxical to say so, but these self-effacing, effortlessly musical interpretations wind up sounding richer in personality that many far more obviously “personal” versions. Definitely worth a listen.
