Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Serenade In B Flat, K.361 "Gran partita"
Alban Berg: Chamber Concerto For Piano And Violin With 13 Wind Instruments
Mitsuko Uchida (Piano), Christian Tetzlaff (Violin)
Ensemble InterContemporain; Pierre Boulez, conductor
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 300 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 198 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Decca | # 478 0316 DH | Time: 01:20:15
Alban Berg: Chamber Concerto For Piano And Violin With 13 Wind Instruments
Mitsuko Uchida (Piano), Christian Tetzlaff (Violin)
Ensemble InterContemporain; Pierre Boulez, conductor
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 300 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 198 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Decca | # 478 0316 DH | Time: 01:20:15
The greatest of Mozart's wind serenades and the toughest of Alban Berg's major works might seem an unlikely pairing, but in an interview included with the sleeve notes for this release, Pierre Boulez points up their similarities. Both works are scored for an ensemble of 13 wind instruments (with solo violin and piano as well in the Berg) and both include large-scale variations as one of their movements - and Boulez makes the comparisons plausible enough in these lucid performances. It's rare to hear him conducting Mozart, too, and if the performance is a little brisker and more strait-laced than ideal, the EIC's phrasing is a model of clarity and good taste. It's the performance of the Berg, though, that makes this such an important issue; both soloists, Mitsuko Uchida and Christian Tetzlaff, are perfectly attuned to Boulez's approach - they have given a number of performances of the Chamber Concerto before - and the combination of accuracy and textural clarity with the highly wrought expressiveness that is the essence of Berg's music is perfectly caught.