MOZART Piano Concertos: Nos. 21 and 27 • Lars Vogt (pn); Paavo Järvi, cond; Frankfurt RSO • AVI 8553257 (57:52)
In this recording a talented, prolific pianist performs with a celebrated conductor in two Mozart masterpieces. It shouldn’t go wrong, and it doesn’t. There is grace here, sensitivity, and a welcome liveliness. At times Vogt in his solo passages seems to retreat a bit too much, in dynamics and touch. I suppose that from time to time I prefer a crisper touch and more directed succession of phrases to the occasional sighs and whispers. I still swoon before Schnabel’s Mozart recordings. But even here I am afraid of exaggerating. Vogt and Jarvi have produced beautiful, coherent, unaffected recordings of two masterpieces. If I like a little more tension, others will prefer this kind of delicate and nuanced approach.
