This is one of a pair of albums by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes focusing on a single year in Mozart's life. Andsnes leads the silky Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard. The puzzling MM 1786 title follows on an earlier album's MM 1785; the "MM" stands for "Mozart Momentum," signifying, in a general way, the groundbreaking discoveries Mozart was making during these key years in his career. It is not clear that the chronological approach brings much here; the forms and procedures of Mozart's works generally owe more to ...
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This is one of a pair of albums by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes focusing on a single year in Mozart's life. Andsnes leads the silky Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard. The puzzling MM 1786 title follows on an earlier album's MM 1785; the "MM" stands for "Mozart Momentum," signifying, in a general way, the groundbreaking discoveries Mozart was making during these key years in his career. It is not clear that the chronological approach brings much here; the forms and procedures of Mozart's works generally owe more to external factors than to pure sequence. Nor does the inclusion of one vocal work, the recitative and aria K. 505, really add much to the program, but Andsnes is a fearsome Mozart pianist, and his playing here is worth hearing on its own merits. As on the MM 1785 release, Andsnes does a bit better in the smaller pieces than in the two piano concertos included. He joins elegantly with chamber players much less well-known than he is (they are Mahler Chamber Orchestra section leads) and...
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