MOZART PIANO CONCERTOS 11-13 Novák/Wihan
Released this month on Nimbus Alliance Records, Mozart’s intimate ‘quattro’ versions of his three Vienna piano concerti arranged for quartet or string orchestra (though never written for full orchestra). This album features the unsurprisingly award-winning Czech pianist Matyáš Novák alongside compatriots the Wihan Quartet. Photo: Lenka Hatašová Performed in a natural and fluid style, and without sentimentality, the studio production is as crystal-clear as to be invigorating. Novák’s playing is in turns crisp and gently assured, and always in perfect balance with the full-bodied strings. And yet, this is a warm and intimate recording. The second movement of Concerto No. 11 is both melodious and mellifluous, the performers’ exacting balance never overplayed. Its closing minuet belies an artful variation of tone. Similarly enlivened, and thus reenergised, it seems as if Concerto No. 12 could have been written yesterday. A welcome lightness of touch compliments its compositional structur