Magical Mozart from Uchida and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra

By Roy Westbrook, 06 February 2022

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“an approach founded on total trust in the composer’s art”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 5 February 2022

Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K488

Purcell, Fantasy no. 9 for 4 viols in A minor, Z 740

Purcell, Fantasy no. 5 for 4 viols in B flat major, Z 736

Purcell, Fantasy no. 7 for 4 viols in C minor, Z 738

Purcell, Fantasy upon One Note for 5 viols in F major, Z 745

Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor, K491

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Dame Mitsuko Uchida, Piano, Director

Yuja Wang with the Mahler CO: between lyricism and volatility

Edward Sava-Segal, 1st May

Yuja Wang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra frame Chopin’s E minor concerto with two Prokofiev works, the First Symphony and Second Piano Concerto.

****1

Delicacy at the cost of spark: Mitsuko Uchida with the Mahler CO

Mengguang Huang, 26th January

While Uchida’s performances showcase remarkable precision and refinement, they occasionally feel restrained, leaving room to explore the improvisatory charm that make Mozart’s music so compelling.

***11

Magic and solemnity: Uchida and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Susan Stempleski, 28th March

Mitsuko Uchida and the MCO continue their exploration of Mozart’s piano concertos and the players deliver a polished New York premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Chorale Quartet.

****1

Lessons in grief: Picture a day like this triumphs in Aix

David Karlin, 5th July

Sir George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s fourth opera shares the best qualities of their previous work but is an inspiring, breathtaking fable.

*****

At the Concertgebouw, it's all about Lang Lang

Clare Varney, 1st June

No ordinary evening at the Concertgebouw, where Lang Lang’s partnership with Andris Nelsons is the perfect vehicle to examine the complexities and contrasts found in the music of Beethoven.

****1

The First and Second Viennese Schools in one: Uchida and the Mahler CO

Alexander Hall, 1st February

Dame Mitsuko Uchida demonstrates why she is one of today's greatest Mozartians, while her MCO players give a virtuoso account of a work steeped in the Viennese tradition.

****1

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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.

Magical Mozart and full-fat Purcell from Mitsuko Uchida and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra