Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 24 and 25

"Bis has given all performers excellent surround sound that is wide, deep, and comforting to the ear. A most definite recommendation."
(AudAud.com)

"Playing on a fine, un-jangly modern copy of an Anton Walter instrument, with its silvery, singing treble and clear, percussive bass, Ronald Brautigam gives bold, invigorating performances of these contrasting concertos...this is exhilarating, often thought-provoking Mozart-playing"
(Gramophone)

"Characterised by lively tempos, crisp articulation, taut rhythms and the ability to convey to the listener the joy of music-making, Brautigam's playing strips away the varnish to let you hear, as near as dammit, what Mozart's audiences woudl have heard...Even if you prefer, as I do, your Mozart on a modern concert grand, it's hard to resist Brautigam's period advocacy."
(ClassicFM)

Ronald Brautigam, with the congenial support of Die Kölner Akademie, under Michael Alexander Willens, here performs Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 24 and 25, both composed in 1786.

The C major concerto is in fact one of the most expansive of all classical piano concertos, rivalling Beethoven's fifth concerto. Their grandeur immediately made them popular fare in the concert hall - Mendelssohn, for instance, had No.24 in his repertoire through the 1820s and 1830s.

On his copy of a fortepiano from 1795, and with orchestral forces corresponding to what Mozart would have been familiar, Brautigam creates a sound of which Mozart would have been familiar.

On the first release in the team's traversal of Mozart's concertos (BIS-SACD-1794), Brautigam was described by International Record Review as 'an absolutely instinctive Mozartian, with… melodic playing of consummate beauty', going on to congratulate him on finding the 'ideal partners' for the project.'