Mozart and Bach with Clara Haskil, finding a jewel

From time to time a big discovery just happens and lightens your entire day. There where you thought that nothing else is left to be found you come across a jewel. That was my strong feeling when I stumbled upon this cd. Everything on the cd is top notch yet one of the concertos is the jewel I am talking about.The Mozart's concerto for two pianos and orchestra in E flat minor, KV 365. I heard before with Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia and that was a very rewarding recording. However the recording on this disc is on a completely different level.

First just a few words about the conductor of this concerto, as I think he is one of the most underrated conductors. I made his acquaintance through the recording of the Barber of Seville with Callas and Gobbi, and, since then, every recording I heard proved him to be a great conductor. He has a gift of injecting life in everything he plays that is most gratifying. And this is also the case here. He accompanies his soloists in perfect style, creating with his orchestra a well defined and nourishing environment for the two-fair musical play. Lively, Mozartean to the bone, with very fine detail and phrasing he leaves very little to be desired. His orchestra, the famed Philharmonia of that period, is in top shape and responds beautifully to its inspiring conductor. A very solid performance from them.

The soloists are both very distinguished interpreters of Mozart piano music, especially Clara Haskil. The Romanian pianist, already a prominent figure of the piano at the time of this recording, has a very special affinity towards Mozart's music and a extremely effective way of transmitting it through the keyboard. All her well-established qualities are manifest to the full in this recording. The phrasing, the punctuation of the melodic lines, the careful choice of tempi and the overall expression, everything makes for an authentic Mozart expression. Her musical intelligence is enveloping and transposes you in the thoughtful silence beyond the music. Geza Anda is a most competent partner. He understands this music with similar depth and manags to express it with a beautiful style and tone.

But what makes this recording really amazing is the outstanding quality of the blend between all those implicated. It is as all of the musical ideas were put into a furnace and the essence poured evenly through all the instruments. The pianos, both individually and their dialogue are so beautiful and so similar, and their musical expression is so right that listening to them creates goose-bumps. The flow of the musical ideas is so logic and so soul-bound that, at least in my mind they created a separate world where I could hardly wait for the next discovery behind a bush of roses. A wealth of musical pictures all beautifully shaped, characterized, and presented with an graceful, unobtrusive vital force behind them. A complete artistical experience indeed.