Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 in G major & 26 in D major, 'Coronation' Ronald Brautigam

• 1 I. Allegro 10:43
• 2 II. Andante 08:31
• 3 III. Allegretto 07:24
• 4 I. Allegro 12:33
• 5 II. Larghetto 04:46
• 6 III. Allegretto 10:05
• Total Runtime 54:02

Info for Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 in G major & 26 in D major, 'Coronation'

Ronald Brautigam returns with the third instalment in his series of Mozart’s piano concertos and is joined again by Die Kölner Akademie conducted by Michael Alexander Willens.

The present disc includes Piano Concerto No.26 in D major, K 537, nicknamed the ‘Coronation Concerto’. Although the title page stated the work was ‘performed by the composer at Frankfurt-am-Main on the occasion of the Coronation of Emperor Leopold II’, the concert took place a week after the actual coronation, and was not part of the official festivities.

It is here preceded by Piano Concerto No.17 in G major, K 453, one of the rare concertos that Mozart composed with another soloist than himself in mind – in this case his student Barbara Ployer.

“This is a really fine performance [of K453], with the slow movement's sublime interplay between piano and winds perfectly judged, and the wit and drama of the variation finale vividly handled - especially in the opera buffa coda, where you can almost smell the greasepaint.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Brautigam's sinuous reading of K453, which makes much of Mozart's long, lolloping lines, has elegance to spare. But he doesn't lose sight of the more mischievous elements either...[the fortepiano] has tremendous clarity throughout its range” (Gramophone)

Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano
Kölner Akademie Orchestra
Michael Alexander Willens, conductor

Ronald Brautigam
one of Holland’s leading musicians, is remarkable not only for his virtuosity and musicality but also for the eclectic nature of his musical interests. He studied in Amsterdam, London and with Rudolf Serkin in the USA. In 1984 he was awarded the Nederlandse Muziekprijs, the highest Dutch musical award. Ronald Brautigam performs regularly with leading European orchestras under distinguished conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Frans Brüggen, Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, Andrew Parrott, Bruno Weil, Iván Fischer and Edo de Waart. In the field of chamber music he has maintained a musical partnership with the violinist Isabelle van Keulen for more than 20 years. Besides his performances on modern instruments Ronald Brautigam has developed a great passion for the fortepiano, appearing with leading orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Tafelmusik, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Hanover Band, Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Copen- hagen and l’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées.

In 1995 Ronald Brautigam began his association with BIS. Among the more than 55 titles released so far are Mendelssohn’s piano concertos (with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta) and, on the fortepiano, the complete piano works of Mozart and Haydn. Also on the fortepiano, his ongoing series of Beethoven’s solo piano music has been described in the American magazine Fanfare as ‘a Beethoven piano-sonata cycle that challenges the very notion of playing this music on modern instruments, a stylistic paradigm shift.’ A cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos, on modern piano, has likewise been warmly received, with instalments receiving various distinctions, including a MIDEM Classical Award in 2010.

Booklet for Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 in G major & 26 in D major, 'Coronation'