It's been said that competitions are impossible to win with Mozart. Not because it's too simple (although the fire & flash-dependent audiences you run across might lead you to this conclusion), but because it's much too difficult. Combine a virtually naked texture where every mistake is a gaping eyesore with an adult's tendency to overanalyze music that speaks with the honesty of a child and basically you're headed for a musical straightjacket. Lucky for us, Leonard Bernstein--like Willy Wonka--was able to grow old without becoming old. Our beloved wunderkind is in rare form, both as conductor and soloist, in this fabulous Sony release. The organic quality of his interpretation is reminiscent of the seamless dialectic in Fleischer's recordings with George Szell. For those of you familiar with the nimble digits of Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale: see if you can aurally identify who's who in the Concerto for Three Pianos. If you can't, this disc is a good place to start in your studies.
