If the Annie Fischer and Otto Klemperer Liszt and Schumann concerto collaborations for EMI had their touchy moments, their live 1956 Mozart K. 482 is truly a harmonious affair. Note the tart clarity and chamber-like balances Klemperer elicits from the Concertgebouw Orchestra, especially in the woodwind chording. Fischer is on wonderful form–arguably more inspired than in her EMI studio K. 482 with Wolfgang Sawallisch at the helm. She always maintains the melodic focus no matter how rapid, slow, or intricate Mozart’s figurations may be, with plenty of dynamism and drama.
Listeners familiar with the 1957 DG studio Fischer/Fricsay Beethoven Third Concerto will not find this live counterpart dissimilar, save for the pianist’s more winged account of the finale and a cavernous acoustic with skewed balances. The oboe, for instance, answers the piano’s opening theme in the Rondo as if beamed in from a distant galaxy, while the massed strings virtually obliterate the winds (the orchestral balances in the studio version are impeccably aligned). Yet Fischer’s fans will notice the pianist’s more pronounced broadening of tempo at her first-movement entrance, as well as her earthier, larger-scaled cadenza. The reverberant sound also adds a floating, spacious dimension to Fischer’s full-bodied chord playing at the outset of the slow movement. Of course you hear much more of the orchestra in the studio recording, and that’s important, given Fricsay’s powerful, incisive conducting. But if you have a soft spot for this late, great pianist, you certainly won’t find this release redundant.
