This disc is part of a
Mozart concerto cycle by German pianist
Matthias Kirschnereit and the
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and the cycle as a whole has the virtue of having attracted equally passionate admirers and detractors. For
Mozart lovers who haven't heard the cycle this may be a good disc to start with; it presents the interpretations proposed by these musicians in perhaps its best possible light. These are big, colorful
Mozart concertos, seemingly dedicated to overturning a certain over-decorousness that sometimes comes with the concertos, especially on British territory. The orchestra's sound is muscular and heavy, with full prominence given to the winds and horns -- and in this case that means turning the winds and horns loose, not keeping the strings down. Deployed as a counterweight to the orchestral power are piano stylings from
Kirschnereit that are lively, varied, and colorful. His playing is notable for a degree of extra ornamentation, certainly in line with that attributed to
Mozart himself in contemporary descriptions of his playing.
Kirschnereit uses
Mozart's own cadenzas in the Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415, and his own in the Piano Concerto No. 26, K. 537 ("Coronation"). What makes this performance stand out from others in the series is that these two concertos are among those in
Mozart's more Beethovenian vein. The sprawling "Coronation" concerto, which comes closer than any other of
Mozart's to being a bore if the pianist doesn't do anything with it, fares especially well here.
Kirschnereit brings a slightly new shading to each diversion of direction in the long first movement and convinces us that he is hearing
Mozart in a way something like how the middle nineteenth century heard him. The C major concerto emerges here as a very public, rousing, splendid piece -- a valid interpretation, even if it is certainly not the only one. It's easy to see why
Kirschnereit's interpretations inspire contrasting reactions, for they diverge sharply from the slimmed-down
Mozart that, with good reason, was the trend at the time. But his interpretations are big without being unsubtle, and they are worth trying out for yourself.