Interpretation *****      Sound Quality ****      Repertoire value ***      Booklet ****

"... Jean-Efflam Bavouzet shows an intelligent view of Mozart's piano concertos KV 450, KV 451 and the piano quintet KV 452..."

**** (Excellent)

"...This is an outstanding recording and is worthy to sit alongside the great Mozart concerto recordings such as those by Perahia and Uchida."

 

Concerto Choice

Performance *****      Recording *****

“…soloist, conductor and orchestra conjure up a magical soundworld …”

“… Bavouzet and the Mancunians under Takacs-Nagy find an ideal balance between the light-hearted and the serious in these wide-ranging pieces … The chamber interplay between Bavouzet and the four winds in K452 carries over into the concertos, their all-important inner lines brought out without a hint of self-consciousness. The conjunction of soloist, band and Chandos’s characteristically fine engineering continue as they set out two years ago and conspires in a fascinating portent of what these players might do in due course with the later, larger, deeper concertos.”

“…Gábor Takács-Nagy makes it [K451] vivid and dynamic, the Manchester Camerata incisive and lyrical, complemented by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s scintillating playing, brilliant and bravura, and perfectly balanced with the ideally captured reach-out-and-touch orchestra, this K451 really speaks to the senses. So too the whimsies of K450, formalities with a flounce in the first movement, enjoyed by the performers and – with no sound barrier in the way – shared with us… As for the Piano and Wind Quintet, once again the recording preserves every note and nuance, friends making civilised conversation, mostly intimate, always intelligent, a lively and considered discourse, give and take, changes of colour and character. *****

“Two of the six concertos from the miraculous year 1784 have been reduced to obscurity by the familiar enchantments of the other four, so it’s good to relish them here, performed splendidly by Bavouzet and Takacs-Nagy’s lively Manchester players… an enjoyable disc.”