The Academy of Ancient Music, Robert Levin, Christopher Hogwood - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 15 & 26 (1987) CD-Rip

Robert Levin plays these works on a restored Walter fortepiano that Mozart owned. This headline feature is both an asset and a limitation. The instrument has its own pronounced personality, which is arresting, when you can hear it. It also has a frailer sound than most of the early pianos or replicas used for concerto recordings, so you can't always hear it clearly. Perhaps this balance was what Mozart's audiences actually heard, but, more likely, if he used a piano like this, he also used a very small orchestra. The other factors of this series, especially Levin's musicianship and his imaginative expansions of Mozart's score, remain so compelling that the disc really has to be heard. But you might have to listen more closely than usual to appreciate it. -- Leslie Gerber