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Janacek, Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart

Janacek: In the Mists Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major, D894 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Brahms: Intermezzo in E flat major, Op. 117 No. 1 b: Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. post.

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 16 in D major, K451
Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra/Gábor Takács-Nagy

Lars Vogt live at Verbier Festival July 2011

Ideale Audience International: 3079818

Increasingly, we are tending towards recommending the best DVDs - usually live recordings - in preference to studio CDs.

The Janacek which begins this packed offering is a good example. There have been fine recordings since Firkuzny to Valešová, but this account conveys this great work's "long struggle of resignation and recurring pain without a single moment of respite" [Jaroslav Vogel], definitely the better for seeing Vogt feeling and sharing its intense emotionalism.

The same applies to the lovely, inward, Schubert G major sonata, superbly recorded on a perfectly prepared Steinway and filmed before a hushed audience; I confess to being pleased that there was no patching to hide an unimportant wrong note brushed during the exposition of the first movement.

It will not displace my dedication to the delightful integrale of the complete Schubert solo piano works, Gilbert Schuchter's on a sweet-toned Bösendorfer [Tudor 741-752], but concentrated listening is aided by seeing Vogt, his fingers and face reflecting the moods of all the music; an unusually apt cover photo was probably taken during the Janacek.

The fresh account of one of the less often played Mozart concertos, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, founder of the Takács Quartet and now Music Director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, puts the recital into the context of this festival.

Released during the 2012 festival season and warmly recommended.

Peter Grahame Woolf

PS Beware though - we've since received for review another copy of this same DVD which is impossible to navigate...

The credits come after Track 12, & I've been unable to play the Mozart concerto at Tr. 14-16.

This is a problem with some labels; do not hesitate to return faulty copies

PGW