Brautigam - Kölner Akademie Willens - Mozart - Piano Concertos 24 & 25 - Bis-SACD-1894 (Nov 2011) SACD rip via PS3 to iso (2.56GB)| 24bit/88.2kHz flsc, 2ch (907MB), 5ch (2.08GB) | DR15 | Gain +6dB limit Composed in 1786, the Piano Concertos Nos 24 in C minor & 25 in C major are regarded as 2 of Mozart’s finest achievements in the genre. Both are large-scale works, with durations of more than 25 minutes each – the C major concerto is in fact one of the most expansive of all classical piano concertos, rivalling Beethoven’s 5th concerto. Their grandeur immediately made them popular fare in the concert hall – Mendelssohn, for instance, had No.24 in his repertoire through the 1820s & 1830s – & new recordings appear regularly. It is nevertheless relatively rare to hear them performed on original instruments & with orchestral forces corresponding to what Mozart himself would have been familiar with. On his copy of a fortepiano from 1795 & with the congenial support of Die Kölner Akademie under Michael Alexander Willens, Ronald Brautigam therefore offers us a welcome opportunity to experience these masterpieces as they may have sounded when Mozart himself performed them. The 1st release in the team’s traversal of Mozart’s concertos, which included the ‘Jeunehomme’ Concerto No.9, was released in 2010 & caused the reviewer in International Record Review to describe the soloist as ‘an absolutely instinctive Mozartian, with… melodic playing of consummate beauty’, going on to congratulate him on finding the ‘ideal partners’ for the project.’ Audition here: http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=BI%201894 Some anal ponderings: http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/7395 Audad review: Published on February 27, 2012 MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24 in c, K 491; Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K 503 – Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano/ Die Kölner Akademie/ Michael Alexander Willens – BIS multichannel SACD 1894, 55:29 [Distr. by Qualiton] ****: Since the C-minor concerto was possibly intended as a series of three concertos using clarinets, and since the character of these two siblings seems so different (clarinets versus oboes for instance, dramatically changing the tonal spectrum), it might be incongruous to include them on one disc. But it actually sheds light on Mozart’s creative processes. The K 491, easily the most vocal and operatic of all Mozart’s concertos, is a brooding and darkly warm account of some oddly disjointed but elegantly lyrical music, one of the most dramatic pieces in all of the composer’s output. Matching it with the K 503, Beethovenian to the core and almost rigorously utilitarian and utopian in nature, sacrificing the idea of soloist to the corporate whole, makes for a tremendously stimulating almost-hour of music. I hope that this signals a whole new series. Not since John Eliot Gardiner’s outing with Malcolm Bilson on their complete Arkiv set years ago have I heard such a spirited period instrument account of these pieces. Indeed, Bilson was miles beyond the period status of his time, turning in readings of real passion and authority that almost sublimated the period instruments into a secondary concern for maybe the first time in the movement’s history. With Die Kölner Akademie there is even less concern for symbolic gestures of who, what, when, and why, and an almost innate concern for musicality only shorn of all other considerations. Ronald Brautigam gives us readings that also transcend the medium, making expressive gestures that mark his account with the very best, ancient instruments or not, and his piano (a McNulty 1992 copy after Anton Walter of 1795) for once demonstrates that properly played and sounding instruments of Mozart’s time maybe didn’t sound as terrible as so many other recordings seem to suggest. Bis has given all performers excellent surround sound that is wide, deep, and comforting to the ear. A most definite recommendation. —Steven Ritter Tracks: ========================================================= foobar2000 1.1.11 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2012-05-06 21:32:41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed: Brautigam - Kölner Akademie/Willens / Mozart - Piano Concertos 24 & 25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track (iso @ 0dB gain) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR14 -7.34 dB -27.78 dB 12:14 01-Concerto No. 24: I. Allegro DR15-12.12 dB -33.19 dB 6:01 02-II. Larghetto DR17 -7.21 dB -29.88 dB 8:45 03-III. Allegretto DR14 -6.26 dB -27.62 dB 13:36 04-Concerto No. 25: I. Allegro maestoso DR13-14.13 dB -32.57 dB 6:10 05-II. Andante DR15 -6.36 dB -29.51 dB 8:44 06-III. Allegretto --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 6 Official DR value: DR15 Samplerate: 2822400 Hz / PCM Samplerate: 176400 Hz Channels: 2 Bits per sample: 24 Bitrate: 5645 kbps Codec: DSD64 ========================================================= ***Big thanks to blog member MarcelsMusic for the loan of the discs and doing the scans.*** Total Time - 54:23 Checksum for iso: 86a038ef8f931fe03ef77ee88cad26c4 *Brautigam - Kölner Akademie Willens - Mozart - Piano Concertos 24 & 25.iso Checksums for 5ch flac tracks: 1e10aff44d733e95c40eac49b045bb6d *01 Concerto N.flac 79b1ef0efecb4408222048815817aff4 *02 II. Larghe.flac 28b07e66892f22081f140b82e7a0dde0 *03 III. Alleg.flac 7b3d22252400fda23427975fd8e9647c *04 Concerto N.flac 830c229596a4f874ad442e95fd430180 *05 II. Andant.flac ff7986fb5236748ebf8602ae3ce4b3c1 *06 III. Alleg.flac Checksums for 2ch flac tracks: 6d9cea55f15f206204dcacb53c95cb73 *01 Concerto No. 24 I. Allegro.flac 3bdea22e6d9f7a0f9bd9aafa0d0e2196 *02 II. Larghetto.flac 7b9356dbbabbb292fc1dbd45ba41c5f9 *03 III Allegretto.flac 505d76a18b9ded2011cd11b58409746a *04 Concerto No. 25 I. Allegro maestoso.flac f4867c14e7cddfdd4ecfe475f8ecaec9 *05 II. Andante.flac 917fda732ee5405d5dd1991d6de9bfa9 *06 III. Allegretto.flac