Aldo Ciccolini - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 on CD

Description

Taken from the LPOs final concerts with the late Aldo Ciccolini (19252015), these performances were much praised at the time. Most notably for Ciccolinis soulful and sensitive interpretation that was illuminated from within and sounded fresh, spontaneous and heartfelt (Classical Source, May 2009). These live recordings were conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin while he was Principal Guest Conductor (2008-14) and his close relationship with the Orchestra is apparent. Yannick Nézet-Séguin is due to succeed James Levine as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in 2020/21. Aldo Ciccolini was a musical legend. Through his teachers he inherited the musical influences of Busoni and Liszt, and he was himself a teacher of many world-famous pianists including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Artur Pizarro and Nicholas Angelich. Rachmaninoffs Second Piano Concerto has been consistently rated one of the best loved pieces of classical music. In 2015 it was named number one in Classic FMs Ultimate Hall of Fame. Mozarts Piano Concerto marked a shift in tone towards a new, more mature style for the composer. He helped to redefine the piano concerto as a sophisticated and expressive artform, rather than a form of polite public entertainment. Review The recordings offer excellent and thoroughly acceptable sound in terms of balance and depth; earlier live LPO festival Hall discs have not invariably been aesthetically acceptable in terms of balance, but this one demonstrates that the engineers have achieved considerable success. A quite wonderful disc, containing a surprisingly successful pair of performances from the archives. 

Track Listings
1 I. Allegro
2 II. Romanza
3 III. Rondo: Allegro Assai
4 I. Moderato
5 II. Adagio Sostenuto
6 III. Allegro Scherzando