Clifford Curzon - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20, 23, 24, 26 & 27 (2002) CD-Rip

This pair of discs brings together five of the legendary Mozart concerto performances, somewhat reluctantly approved of for publication by Curzon. Curzon was at the same time, a recording artist of choice but also a recording nightmare commercially. There are many of his recordings still in the vaults that were made at considerable expense, but which were then refused permission for publication by Curzon for reasons that few would consider essential.

As a result of these exacting requirements, his available recorded legacy is not as extensive as it might otherwise be and so these five concertos have achieved rarity value as well as musical value. Curzon brings a fastidious mind to bear on these works which work seamlessly with the chosen conductors and their joint views on performance. It is possible to find in these performances musical links that extend beyond the specific concertos themselves. This type of intellectual extension was typical of Curzon who was rarely satisfied with the results, always feeling that there was yet more to be revealed or explored in the future. Nevertheless for normal mortals these five performances have achieves artistic legendary status.

As with the rest of these re-mastered discs, the improvement in sound quality is very marked with the greatest improvements being with the older recordings. This set falls somewhere in the middle range being of late 60's to early 70's vintage. The reality is that early CDs simply did not have the capability of containing the full musical signal which had been achieved via analogue recordings since the 1950's. An example of convenience over substance similar to camera phones relative to good quality 'traditional' digital cameras and mp3 players compared to separates and large speakers etc. That backwards sonic move has now been rectified with the much greater capabilities of these higher bit rate transfers.

As a result there is greater dynamic range, tonal range, sound-stage and general 'presence' to be readily heard. The better the replay equipment the more this will be apparent.

I would therefore suggest that for those considering an upgrade to this new mastering, this disc clearly offers significant improvement. For those yet to experience Curzon's playing, this set would be an excellent place to start and well worth considering on that basis. The 26th concerto is split between the discs but this seems to be a very small price of inconvenience to pay in order to enjoy an extra concerto.