Mitsuko Uchida, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (2010/2019) [3x SACD]
SACD Rip | 3xSACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 / 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 03:01:35 min | Scans incl. | 10,63 GB
Genre: Classical | Publisher (label): Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings – BPHR 180243
There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beethoven’s own instrument was the piano, and in his improvisations – which made him the darling of the Viennese salons – he merged virtuosity and unbridled expression. The piano concertos give a clear idea of these performances. At the same time, they are prime examples of Beethoven’s ability to create large orchestral works with seemingly endless arcs of tension.
The complete recording of all five works with Mitsuko Uchida and Sir Simon Rattle was one of the most spectacular projects of the Berliner Philharmoniker during the Rattle era – and at the same time the highlight of the collaboration between the orchestra and the pianist, which began in 1984.
The performances were given a rapturous reception in the auditorium and in the press – as one critic wrote, the audience was overwhelmed by a “collective sense of happiness”. With vibrant freshness, the performances brought the whole combative energy of these works to life. At the same time, they revealed Beethoven’s incomparable spirituality, which – according to Mitsuko Uchida – “allows us to see to the end of the universe”.
Mitsuko Uchida – Schumann: G Minor Sonata; Waldszenen; Gesänge der Frühe (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:57 minutes | 1006 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca Music Group Ltd.
Dame Mitsuko Uchida, universally acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost Schumann interpreters, follows her last album of the composer’s music (Davidsbündlertänze and Fantasie in C) with another sublime Schumann programme. Uchida’s latest Decca recording brings together the romantic fire and intensity of the Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor Op. 22 with two remarkable works from Schumann’s final years, Waldszenen and the Gesänge der Frühe.
Her album’s repertoire explores music created by an artist burdened by deep depression and mental illness. His Gesänge der Frühe (“Songs of Dawn”) were sketched within the space of four days in February 1854, shortly before Schumann attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine. The work proved to be his last complete piano composition.
Read more![Mitsuko Uchida - Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/05/12/ifa0623i8h3ib_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Mitsuko Uchida – Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 58:51 minutes | 1,83 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca Music Group Ltd.
The late Beethoven recordings of pianist Mitsuko Uchida have been career makers, and it is cause for celebration that she has capped them with the 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120, a work that perhaps poses deeper interpretive challenges than any of the late sonatas. The Variations often show a kind of rough humor, and a performer may pick up on that, or the player may deemphasize the humor and seek out the epic qualities of the Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, and Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111. Uchida does neither. The outlines of her usual style, high-contrast and a bit dry, are apparent, but she does not let them dominate her reading. What Uchida realizes is that the abrupt transition from humor to the deepest existential ruminations is part and parcel of Beethoven’s late style, and she works to hone the particular character of each Beethoven variation. Her left hand, as usual, is strikingly powerful, and this brings out many striking details (consider the stirring variation 16). The trio of slow minor variations toward the end are given great seriousness but are not in the least overwrought; Uchida achieves an elusive Olympian tone through the final variations. There is much more to experience here, for each variation is fully thought out, but suffice it to say that this is one of the great performances of the Diabelli Variations.
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Mitsuko Uchida, Mark Steinberg – Mozart: Sonatas For Piano & Violin (2005/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:33 minutes | 1,37 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca Music Group Ltd.
In perusing CDs of Mozart’s sonatas for piano and violin, a lot can be guessed in advance by noticing which performer is featured prominently, and who is relegated to second place. In these sonatas the violin is minimized to an obbligato accompaniment. Legendary pianist Mitsuko Uchida is clearly the dominant partner, and rising violinist Mark Steinberg is only her deferential sidekick. The usual problems of balance between the piano and violin are exacerbated by such a lopsided pairing, and it is inevitable that Uchida’s interesting interpretations, refined expression, and impeccable execution will outshine Steinberg’s efforts; no matter how desperately he tries to get on an equal footing with her, he must fail. As it happens, his playing eventually becomes an annoyance, little more than a doubling or elaboration of the melodic line, with little independence of thought, expression, attack, or color. Strangely, one wishes to hear Uchida’s playing unadorned, without the chattering fiddling going on beside her, but this is just further evidence that this duo is mismatched. The sound quality is decent, except that the highly resonant acoustics emphasize the piano to the violin’s further detriment.
Read more![Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, Mitsuko Uchida - Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1-5 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/09/01/mxcpt8vwcx0gc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, Mitsuko Uchida – Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1-5 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 03:01:29 minutes | 1,68 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beethoven’s own instrument was the piano, and in his improvisations – which made him the darling of the Viennese salons – he merged virtuosity and unbridled expression. The piano concertos give a clear idea of these performances. At the same time, they are prime examples of Beethoven’s ability to create large orchestral works with seemingly endless arcs of tension.
(more…)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concertos Nos.17 & 25 – Mitsuko Uchida, The Cleveland orchestra (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 1:07:18 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: | © Decca
Arguably the world’s greatest Mozart interpreter plays and conducts two of his most popular piano concerti.
“Superior Mozart Pianist” Mitsuko Uchida (Chicago Tribune) concludes her Grammy Award winning series of Mozart Piano Concerto recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra.
This fifth and final instalment of the series includes two of the composers greatest works.
This new recording has her directing the orchestra from the piano herself, in the manner of which 18th century audiences might have been accustomed.
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