Mikhail Pletnev, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie - Mozart - Piano Concertos 20 & 23 (2004)

As one might have imagined, if Russian super-virtuoso-pianist-turned-conductor Mikhail Pletnev was going to try a couple of Mozart concertos on for size, it makes sense they'd be the D minor and the A major. With the D minor's driven outer movements and the A major's nocturnal central movement, these are two of Mozart's most nearly Romantic concertos. And, as a Russian super-virtuoso pianist, Pletnev naturally had to interpret them in a Romantic manner.
As one might have guessed, this inevitably leads to performances that are explicitly expressive, extremely dramatic, and much more than nearly Romantic. Pletnev's D minor is more than driven: it's demonic. Pletnev's A major is more the nocturnal: it's crepuscular. And, as a pianist turned conductor, Pletnev unsurprisingly had to have the hubris to think that he could play and conduct at the same time. While Pletnev can in fact play and conduct at the same time, by doing both jobs he has no one to temper his interpretation, no one to say that "explicitly" and "extremely" are not adverbs that should be applied to performances of even Mozart's most nearly Romantic concertos. So, all the players of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie perform explicitly and extremely along with Pletnev, and together they ultimately sink the music. Virgin's mid-'90s sound is a little too close and a lot too loud.