Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 12 and 17.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 12 and 17. Alfred Bendel, piano; Sir Charles Mackerras, Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Philips B0006594-02.

This title is virtually self-recommending. You've got one of the world's preeminent pianists, Alfred Brendel, performing with one of the world's preeminent Mozarteans, Sir Charles Mackerras, leading the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. What's not to like?

Brendel has been criticized over the years for sometimes being overly fussy, overly intellectual in his music making, but here he seems almost completely at home. He remains a wondrous musician, yet he keeps surprising one with the delicacy of his touch and the seeming spontaneity of his gestures, pauses, and nuances. I confess to a greater delight in the Concerto No. 17 than in the No. 12, so let me just mention a few of its delights. The opening is almost magical, and Brendel makes the most of it, charming in its lush yet spirited Romanticism. In the second, ...