Piano Concertos Nos. 23 And 24

Richard Goode, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

1. Piano Concerto No. 23 In A Major, K. 488: Allegro 2. Piano Concerto No. 23 In A Major, K. 488: Adagio 3. Piano Concerto No. 23 In A Major, K. 488: Allegro assai 4. Piano Concerto No. 24 In C Minor, K. 491: Allegro 5. Piano Concerto No. 24 In C Minor, K. 491: Larghetto 6. Piano Concerto No. 24 In C Minor, K. 491: Allegretto

There are star artists, the kind who are as close as you get to household names within the field of classical music, and then there are artists like Richard Goode who, for whatever non-musical reason, have not made the leap to international stardom and yet who are endlessly praised by those who profess to know about these things; "a musician's musician" is the slightly patronising phrase commonly applied. Well it's about time he got a bit more recognition than that. There is not a pianist around today whom many of us would rather hear in Mozart (or indeed Beethoven for that matter). This is the most recent instalment in his all-too-occasional series of Mozart concertos, containing two of the greatest of all, the predominantly sunny A major offset by the heightened drama of the C minor. Goode's playing is charming without being cloying, intelligent without being dry, clean without being clinical, sincere without being smarmy, and all the musicians sound as if they're having a whale of a time. Buy this disc, give copies to your friends and relatives and proclaim the gospel of Goode. --Harriet Smit

Price: $23.98