Mozart Piano Concertos, vol. 3: Nos. 14 & 27
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano.
Odense Symphony Orchestra/Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Bridge 9538
Total Time:  55:05
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

If one wants to really get a sense of Mozart’s development as an orchestrator, his piano concertos are often excellent ways to peer into his exploration and experimentation with the developing orchestra.  The two concertos paired on this latest volume of Anne-Marie McDermott’s new cycle on Bridge Records feature a bit more restrained wind writing though and feel as if Mozart was unsure just exactly what sort of orchestra he’d be performing with, causing the music to have a more restrained quality.  McDermott began this project a couple years ago and this release was recorded back in August 2019.  So far, it bears one quirk of having a different conductor on the podium leading this regional Danish orchestra.  The American pianist has also recorded Prokofiev sonatas and music of Gershwin.

The orchestra proves to be a fine accompanist from the opening bars of K. 449 (1784).  The Eb concerto has the distinction of being one of the few in a triple meter.  The third movement also is a bit unusual in its switch from 2/2 to 6/8 meter.  McDermott’s performance has a warm approach that gives the music a more Romantic feel with a tad more emotion, especially in a gorgeous performance of the “Andantino”.  In this respect, the performance is a parallel to those by Mitsuko Uchida.  She has a delicate balance that brings out both hands equally, with the lower register brought ought quite well in the finale as needed.  There is also an excellent sense of phrasing that allows the music to shine even further.  In the virtuosic moments, a sense of warmth and elegance still pervades lending a singing quality to the performance and the delicate quieter sections are quite moving.

Mozart’s last piano concerto, K. 595, has that interesting historical pall of coming from those last difficult years of his life.  Its composition has been traced to perhaps being completed sometime between 1788-89 rather than in 1791.  Orchestration here is also paired back and gives it an at times slightly more intimate quality.  Interesting unisons with winds (coupled with some fine solo options) and strings add interesting color and the dialogue segments feel as if they come from chamber opera.  These can be quite witty with their dynamic shadings.  Thematic ideas are spread more throughout the different movements and there is a stronger exploration of motive and subsequent development.  Mozart also wrote out the outer movement cadenzas.  There were some missing measures in the first movement that have been restored for this recording which uses the now updated 2001 edition from the Neue Mozart Ausgabe as well as the amendations to the cadenzas discovered in the 1980s.  This further will make this release of interest to Mozarteans.  The concerto always seems to flirt with a Haydn-esque quality.  Here too McDermott provides a compelling reading of the piece with a seemingly effortless virtuosity for scale passages and again an overall warmer tone.  The orchestra is also warmly recorded with a fine balance and ambience.

There are plenty of versions of Mozart concerto recordings and competition is a bit fierce here from classic recordings to modern day cycles.  When all is said and done though, McDermott’s approach certainly makes one sit up and listen to her thoughtful and beautiful performances here filled with delicacy, warmth, and a sense of wit where needed.  The orchestra takes its lead well from her interpretation and this equally makes for a rather enjoyable release.  The two earlier volumes have not been heard by this reviewer, but, if this is an indication of what might be there, it may be worth adding them to your radar.

Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 (Nocturnes)
George Takei, narrator. Fabio Banegas, piano.
Grand Piano 871
Total Time:  72:35
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

The music of Argentinean composer Jose Antonio Bottiroli (1920-1990) is among those of lesser-known 20^th Century composers beyond, perhaps, his homeland.  His Belgrano March was decreed to be used as a commemoration for the national flag of Argentina.  Like other composers of the mid- 20^th-Century, Bottiroli thus began exploring folk music idioms in his work.  That approach is mostly absent though from this current volume of piano music composed in the last couple decades of his life.

Pianist Fabio Banegas undertook to collect and edit the works of Bottiroli and his intimate understanding of the music from such a task has no doubt impacted the loving care he brings to these world premiere recordings.  The Three Sorrows (1984) that open the release will catch the listener off guard at first because the music is all quite Impressionistic in its aesthetic with touches of Late-Romanticism.  The music has some flirtations with more modernist harmonic gestures but maintains its nod to the piano miniatures of an earlier era.  One feels like a whole new unearthed collection of Debussy has been discovered.  Ideas waft in beautiful harmonic support with a sort of dreamlike reflection.  The Six Album Pages (1976-77) create a variety of musings on evening beauty with a relaxing quality that wafts across each.  Sometimes a little salon-like musical feel will sneak into the style creating an even further delight.

A more innovative approach can be heard in the final work on the album, Five Piano Replies (1974-80).  Bottiroli was a noted poet with some 84 known works to his credit.  The composer’s poetry serves as a scene setting for his music which subsequently adds a more dramatic arc to the individual movements.  The poetry, reproduced in the booklet, is read by the inimitable George Takei, perhaps more familiar to fans of Star Trek as Sulu.  That might peak interest among fans of a different ilk, but they will certainly discover some music that will encourage looking up into the night sky to contemplate their own place in the vast universe.

Banegas is an excellent interpreter of these works and has been a dedicatee of the Six Album Pieces.  It would seem his skill would be equally adept at other earlier 20^th Century Impressionist composers and perhaps he will turn his attention there once he has completed recording the works of Bottiroli.  What we have here though is a fine collection of colorful, relaxing works for piano that may entice listeners to continue to join him on these explorations of this Argentinian composer.