Friedrich Gulda’s Mozart.
Over the past two days, I listened to the music of the late pianist Friedrich Gulda. Some 60 years ago, when my parents spent a year in Vienna, I may have actually heard him play; not sure.
For me, this recording of Mr. Gulda playing the concertos #20 and #26 represents pure pleasure. Somehow, I was amazed how this man could capture the Mozart joy and yes, even his sadness in the second movements of these two works.
I feel that this concert featuring the 56-year-old Friedrich Gulda and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in 1986 is truly legendary. Gulda plays and simultaneously conducts these two Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 26 with an amazing style, crispness, and freshness. Gulda and the Munich Philharmonic delight the audience with their passion and musical perfection.
I was not at all impressed with Mr. Gulda’s conducting style, because he fundamentally showed fairly wild arm movements that were not at all precise. Once he began to play, however, it was a totally different story.
Friedrich Gulda was born on the 16th of May 1930, and he died on the 27th of January 2000. He actually died on the birthday of Mozart, who was born on January 27, 1756. Gulda is buried at the cemetery at Steinbach am Attersee, in Austria, where Gustav Mahler composed his four first symphonies.
Here is Friedrich Gulda playing and conducting mozart piano concerto n°20 in D minor, K.466, first movement (allegro), with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
And next, here is Gulda playing and conducting the Mozart piano concerto n°26 in D major, K.537 (“Coronation Concerto”), with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra:
And here’s some trivia for you: I believe that pianist Martha Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Vienna in 1955, when her family moved to Vienna.
Tags: Friedrich Gulda, Mozart, Concerto #20, Concerto #26 (Coronation), Steinbach am Attersee