Mozart Piano concertos No. 9 in E flat, K 271 (Jenamy/Jeunehomme);No.12 in A, K414; Rondo in A, K385
Ronald Brautigam fortepiano
Die Kölner Akademie • Michael Alexander Willens
BIS-SACD-1794 (hybrid CD/ SACD) 58'36 mins 2010


The Jeunehomme Concerto K 271 is arguably the work in which Mozart first revealed the full extent of his genius. He was in the month of his 21st birthday, and the concerto is astonishingly original at every trun, with the soloist continually invading the traditional teritory of the orchestra (nowhere more strikingly so than in the very second bar of the opening tutti) and a deeply-felt slow movement in the style of a tragic opera scena. The Concerto K414, in Mozarts's lyrical A Major vein, was tailored to ,pre conservative Viennese taste, though it's scarcely less beautiful for that.The attractive Ronod  K386 which survives in an slightly incomplete form, was once thought to be a first attempt at a finale for K414, but it's more likley to have arisen as a an independant piece.
The Cologne Academy is a small band, with a string section perhaps better suited to the chamber syle of K414 than to the grander sonoriies of he Jeunehomme, but its playing under Michael Alexander Willens is lievely and stylish throughout. Ronadl Brautigam is as discreet about playing during tutis, where he restricts himsleof to an occasional doubling of the bass line, as he is about ornamentation. What's impressive about his playing is not just its sprightliniess, but also its expressive character , with the latter quality particularly evident in the intensity he brings to the slow movemnet of K271. If you prefer your Mozart concertos played on period instruments, you're unlikely to find better performances than these. Misha Donat
PERFORMANCE *****
RECORDING     *****
BBC Music Magazine