Unlike previous Alfred Brendel/Charles Mackerras Mozart concerto collaborations for Philips, the present release generally yields to the pianist’s earlier recorded versions of these two works. To be certain, there’s much to admire from an orchestral standpoint. In the C major K. 503 concerto Mackerras’ sturdy, supportive accompaniments give special emphasis to the dramatic brass and timpani punctuations in loud tuttis, abetted by Philips’ spacious sonics, which are better balanced in relation to Brendel’s live 1978 K. 503 with Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Brendel also has spruced up his original first-movement cadenza with additional twists and turns. The sparkle and witty pointing Brendel brought to his Vox traversal, however, has soured over time. Compare, for instance, the younger Brendel’s scampering, shapely way with the ascending triplet sequences in the third movement to his relatively uninflected latter-day treatment and you’ll understand.
From a stylistic and technical standpoint you can hardly find fault with Brendel’s K. 271 remake. Yet again, Brendel’s fingerwork proves more supple and buoyant in his earlier accounts, with less reliance on the sustain pedal to achieve legato effects. The 1978 Philips version’s warm, intimate engineering adds greater pungency and bite to Marriner’s forwardly balanced winds. If you want these concertos coupled on a single disc, Richard Goode’s more incisive and animated interpretations with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra remain first choice.
