George Szell, The Cleveland Orchestra - George Szell Plays and Conducts Mozart (2006)

George Szell may not, on the surface, seem the ideal Mozartean. Over the years, his reputation has been twisted into a caricature - that of a teutonic taskmaster for whom musicality was less important than technical perfection. What a shame, because George Szell was first and foremost a musician. With this CD, Szell's reputation for hardness is belied by his warm, witty, agile, articulate - and humane - readings of a generous sampling of Mozart's music - including six works on which Szell himself performs as pianist!

Digitally remastered, this disc contains, along with some of Mozart's more famous works, some exquisite rarities: the seldom recorded Symphonies 28 and 33, the Overture to Der Schauspieldirektor, and the Divertimento in D (K. 334). It goes without saying that these works are performed to perfection; what many may find unexpected is how humane, witty, and joyous they sound.

Szell was well known for his absolute insistence on transparency and phrasing - in his day it was seen as an eccentricity. But today, with the HIP movement in the ascendancy, Szell's interpretations must be surely be seen as prescient. These performances are lean, taut, with minimal vibrato and rubato. His focus on articulation and transparency - once considered slightly outre - serves Mozart very well in these readings.

Szell's Mozart is light, without being weak; effervescent, without being glib; and articulate without resorting to pedantry. The word that best describes these performances may very well be "Beechamesque."

The Piano Concerto (No. 25) with Leon Fleischer, and the Sinfonia Concertante (K. 364) are also a lot of fun - these recordings have been remastered and sound so much better than their earlier Analogue to CD transfers. The two Serenades are also well executed. No. 13 is played with a chamber orchestra, but thanks to Szell's trademark transparency, the piece somehow retains its light, agile character. No. 9, "Posthorn," is also played with the same dexterity and attention to detail.

Szell was not only one of the world's best conductors, he was also a concert-grade pianist. Like Leonard Bernstein and Georg Solti, Szell had true musical credibility - he could back it up, as it were, because he was every bit as good a player as any of those under his baton.

Here, Sony gives us Szell on Piano in four of Mozart's Sonatas for Piano and Violin (he is joined in all four by Rafael Druian on Violin), and two Quartets (Szell on Piano joined by the Budapest String Quartet). These performances are brimming with vitality and spark. They are more than just curiosities - Szell absolutely could have had a career as a concert pianist, and a good one too.

Regarding the sound, the engineers at Sony have succeeded tremendously at cleaning and burnishing these recordings from the early days of stereo (and mono for K. 478 and 493). The result is clean, close, and very, very clear (if slightly dry). The presence is outstanding. You would never guess this disc was comprised of recordings from the 1960's - and in the case of the two Szell/Budapest quartets, the 1940s.

Enthusiastically recommended, not only Mozart aficionados, but for anyone who appreciates true artistic genius.