Mozart: Piano Concertos 10, 19 & 20
These are glorious performances of three very different piano concerti by Mozart. No. 19 (K. 459) is a handsome showpiece, filled with dramatic turns for the soloist; No. 10 (K. 365) for two pianos is simply lovely; and No. 20 (K. 466) is a deeply felt, intricately woven, brooding, but finally exultant masterpiece. Martha Argerich tears into No. 20's darkness with great fury, abetted by Rabinovitch's tense, turmoil-filled accompaniment; she plays Beethoven's appropriately heavy cadenzas with brilliance, and her headlong blaze into the final movement is breathtaking. Rabinovitch plays and leads No. 19 with charm and virtuosity. And the two pianists zip through K. 365 as if it were a delicious ice-cream sundae, which, frankly, it is. A terrific disc, highly recommended. --Robert Levine