Géza Anda was the first pianist to record all 27 Mozart concertos while conducting from the keyboard, and his cycle more or less had the field to itself in the 1960s. Here are two of the set’s finest performances. They not only hold their own but also stand out in comparison with dozens of notable contemporary versions. K. 456 and K. 459 count among Mozart’s sunniest, transparently inventive utterances in this genre. Anda elicits tartly delineated woodwind detail and crisp string articulation from his alert Salzburg musicians. He projects the piano parts with playful fluency and commands a sixth sense for when to dominate and when to pull back and accompany. The sonics don’t quite match the plusher ambience of Barenboim’s EMI or Perahia’s Sony versions from the ’70s, but Deutsche Grammophon’s leaner mike pickup still allows you to hear everything Mozart wrote. The cadenzas are Mozart’s own, save for an Anda/Mozart concoction for K. 456’s first movement. If you buy this disc (and who could possibly resist it at bargain price?), you’re guaranteed play it often.
