Robert Levin, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 5, 14 & 16 (1999)

Not all HIP recordings of Mozart's piano concerti are created equal. Once you get past the novelty of the period instrument sound, any recording must stand or fall on its artistic merits alone. Any advantages (balance, texture, personality) conferred by authentic instruments are lost without musicality. Not by Gut Strings and Fortepiano alone can one achieve salvation in this music.

When it comes to matching musicality and authenticity, Robert Levin, Christopher Hogwood, and the AAM are the right guys for the job at hand. In this repertoire, this combo made eight memorable records (Nos. 1-4; 11 & 13; 9 & 12; 17 & 20, 15 & 26, 22 & 23, and 18 & 19), and every one is a treasure.

For starters, Levin brings a lot of energy and expertise to these readings. A renowned Mozart scholar, Levin is also a bold performer. He plays in a thoroughly Classical style - swift tempi, improvised cadenzas, high energy, and good humor. It's all there - Levin is the whole package. Like Malcolm Bilson, Levin understands the operatic aspects of these works. Each movement is a story, and Levin builds the momentum, from his meek initial entrances (K.175 notwithstanding) to his forcefull, jubuliant cadenzas. He plays fortepiano with the AAM as a member of a jazz combo rather than by some stiff-necked soloist preening for the crowd on a concert grand. Here, Levin's fortepiano is part of the ensemble, and only emerges from the orchestral fray when Mozart intended it to. In this way, Levin fully exploits the natural balance between his instrument and the rest of the period instrument ensemble.

For listeners who have not heard fortepiano interpretations of Mozart's concerti, these recordings may be slightly jarring. But Levin is a convincing performer. There is a lot of brio and zip to these renditions. The more percussive sound of the fortepiano brings out the rhythmic qualities of this music, and the lighter sonorities of the instrument blend in better with the orchestral textures of the period ensemble. Compared to a modern piano, Mozart's instrument speaks as well as sings. It's more articulate and more agile. It requires a lighter tough, less musculature and more finesse than a Hamburg Steinway, and in this way the instrument is matched perfectly to performer. For there is perhaps no artist alive today who better understands the nuance and character of Mozart like Robert Levin.

Hogwood and the AAM bring their usual sharp phrasing and bold dynamic contrasts to the proceedings. In K. 175, they sound jaunty and youthful - this is a young man's music, after all. Levin plays exuberantly - just the way you might imagine Mozart would have played it himself.

K. 449 and K. 451 are also played with panache and vitality. While Levin's playing is joyful and buoyant, the AAM sounds, in comparison, huge - even a chamber sized ensemble monsters the little fortepiano - and this does take some getting used to for listeners accustomed to modern instruments. But if you like your tuttis explosive and rendered in sharp relief (and you should), you will be enchanted by these readings. If given the chance, Levin, Hogwood, and the AAM will make quick converts out of even the most hardened anti-HIP philistines.

All in all, these three concerti are rendered with color, dynamism, energy, and sprightly humor. As with the other Levin/Hogwood collaborations this disc contains truly noteworthy performances, and any serious connoisseur of the Salzburg Wunderkind should consider these worthy additions to his library.