Punk
Mozart? Surely, you jest. And yet here it is: spiky, angular, and hard as a shiv,
Leif Ove Andsnes' performances of
Mozart's Jeunehomme and Piano Concertos in B flat major with the
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra cuts to the quick of the music and reveals
Wolfgang in leather and chains.
And, amazingly enough, it works.
Andsnes is the tough-guy Norwegian pianist who has turned in recordings of juiced-up
Chopin, punched-up
Prokofiev, and even gnarly
Grieg, and made it work every time because he has the strength, the technique, and the charisma to pull it off. And he does it again here with
Mozart.
Andsnes plays the notes, all the notes, and nothing but the notes, and yet the energy and integrity
Andsnes pours into his playing goes above and beyond the notes to the purity of line, clarity of structure, and inevitability of tempo that is the essence of all great music.
Andsnes'
Mozart is spiky but the dynamics are
Mozart's.
Andsnes is angular but the geometry is
Mozart's.
Andsnes is hard as a shiv because, above and beyond the elegant loveliness of the surface,
Mozart's music is the essence of purity, clarity, and inevitability. EMI's sound is clear but not quite clear enough, and just a little too harsh at the upper end.